The Enterprise and the Doctor
by denise3
Summary: The Enterprise, during its five-year mission under Captain Kirk, repeatedly meets a mysterious individual known as the Doctor. Amid growing threats to the Federation, they must decide whether to trust him, or not. Episode II: Investigation: The Enterprise arrives on New Sapienza looking for the Doctor, but there they'll find more than they hoped for.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Summary: The TARDIS does her thing.

A/N: As this story grows into a series, I'm adding a short prologue to put things into perspective. First episode has been fully revised, with invaluable help from my beta, Ersatz Einstein. Any errors that remain are mine only. Of course, only this story is mine. The _Enterprise_ and her crew belong to Paramount and the Doctor and his TARDIS are BBC's.

* * *

 _Time is in flux._

She was drifting in the Vortex, no destination set. Her Pilot was rested, content. He had resisted, again, taking another companion, but at least he was now somewhat comfortable with his memories.

 _A tipping point is at hand._

She could feel the meddlers. Puny linear beings, pushing against the boundaries of what's possible. They sought only their little ends, furthering their own little ambitions, feeding their pride and arrogance. They didn't know, and they understood less. Even if they did, in their presumption, they would enjoy the clash, right up to the point where it destroyed them.

 _It is neither the beginning nor the end._

Her Pilot knew nothing yet. She could feel him, wandering her corridors. But he had glimpsed it, and the portents it brought, and he ran. It could mean his destruction, and he was tired of war. But she knew he couldn't avoid getting involved in the end. The others wouldn't intervene until it was too late. And the longer he delayed, the harder it would be for him to survive.

 _The Focal Point is there._

The moment her Pilot activated her engine, she knew where and when she'd go. She had already ensured her Pilot would have enough of what he needed at hand.

 _Yet another little blue planet, in that most troublesome of all galaxies._


	2. Diplomatic Talks: Arrival

**Episode I: Diplomatic Talks**

The Enterprise is sent on a typical mission to a planet, in support of diplomatic talks between the Federation and the local government. The away team is captured, meets a mysterious stranger in prison and tries to escape. Business as usual? Perhaps not.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Arrival**

Summary: A routine mission, but something isn't quite right. Kirk beams down with the away team and they are captured.

* * *

 _Captain's log, Stardate 2145.1. The Enterprise has arrived at the planet Galinedoria Beta IV, reportedly on the brink of developing warp technology. The Federation has sent a survey team to research the political and social situation in preparation for the establishment of regular diplomatic relations. Our mission is to rendezvous with the team and provide them with any support they need. However, we have been unable to contact the surveyors, and I've decided to take an away team to look for them._

Captain Kirk glared at the two officers who'd just entered the conference room, then turned back to his chief engineer to resume the briefing.

"Scotty, as soon as we've beamed down, you should move the _Enterprise_ as far away as possible while still staying within range of our communicators. The Galinedorians have only a few primitive suborbital vehicles and their sensors shouldn't be able to pick us up, but it's best to avoid attracting their attention. There've also been some reports of pirates in neighboring systems, so you should keep your eyes open, just in case."

"Aye, sir, but if you ask me, I think it's strange that they're already developing warp technology. I've checked the sensors. They're barely into their information age, they still lack a unified planetary government, and their powerplants are crude at best."

"Mr. Scott," Spock explained, "the preliminary reports indicate they have managed to reverse engineer some technology salvaged from a crashed spacecraft, apparently with the help of the traders who contacted them before the Federation established the quarantine. However, their prototype is not ready yet."

"That's why we don't need to disguise ourselves as natives. They already know they're not alone. Their governments have been told to expect our presence, but they've asked that we avoid being seen by the general population. For our own safety," Kirk added wryly.

"Well, maybe it's for the best. I wouldn't want to look like them either," Scotty said, looking at Spock out of the corner of his eye.

"Anyway, it's not our job to talk to them," the captain continued, ignoring him. "Mr. Williams, the Federation special envoy, and his assistant are already in their capital talking to the government. They're preparing for the arrival of Ambassador Koenig. They know we're coming and they're expecting our report as soon as we find the survey team."

"Sir, should we expect any hostility on their part?" asked Sulu.

"Not in theory, no. They've been very welcoming so far. But I'd rather we take some precautions anyway. Galinedorian history is reportedly filled with violent strife. And part of the population still distrusts our intentions."

"Then shouldn't we come openly?"

"Mr. Williams has asked for an independent survey team, unmonitored by their government," Spock explained. "He's not satisfied with the answers they've given him, and the Federation Council has accepted his arguments."

"But if they're hiding something, wouldn't they try to stop the survey team? Maybe that's why they're missing," the engineer said, worried.

"So far we have no indication that such a thing has happened," Spock said. "Their initial report said they had no problems establishing their camp, except that their main communicator broke, forcing them to use the backup. It's possible that the backup had the same problem. That would be enough to explain the lack of further communications."

Scotty began to grumble about the lack of quality control in the material provided to civilian teams. It wasn't the first time the _Enterprise_ crew had had to help a survey team fix faulty equipment. But the captain wanted to finish the briefing so they could get on with their assignment. After a string of uneventful missions, he was almost hoping something interesting would happen on this one.

"Mr. Scott, they know to expect our visit. If they find us or the survey team, they may not be happy, but they've already asked to join the Federation, so they'll have to live with it. Now that everyone knows what to do, let's go. We have civilians to rescue."

* * *

"Captain, I have some concerns about the situation on the planet," Spock said as they walked towards the transporter room. "There have been a number of complaints recently about the way the Federation treats newly affiliated planets. As you know, some members claim that the problems of existing Federation planets are being overlooked in favor of newer member races. Any trouble with the diplomatic talks with the Galinedorians may be used to further the opposition to the current Federation focus on increasing membership."

"Spock, you surprise me. You're interested in politics? Since when is there anything logical about that?"

"Captain," Spock replied, managing to sound aggrieved without really changing his tone of voice, "politics is nothing but a sophisticated, complex game, and good players often employ logical strategies, even though their tactics usually work by the emotional manipulation of the public. You have merely to account for the fact that people's real interests are often very different from their stated goals, and that both are almost always predictable, even if they are in fact illogical. The fact that I have no interest in playing the game doesn't mean that I'm unable to follow the strategy behind it."

Kirk stopped and stared at his Vulcan first officer.

"Are you trying to say that you suspect there may be someone interested in the failure of the Galinedorian talks?"

"I'm simply concerned that the controversy over the Federation's policies may affect Starfleet. For instance, it has been suggested that our starships should be restricted from conducting first contact missions. Specifically, there have been a number of complaints about the _Enterprise_ 's actions in recent missions. In that context, the negotiations in Galinedoria Beta IV and any actions we take will be subject to more scrutiny than they would otherwise."

"But, Spock, almost all the complaints were clear fabrications or exaggerations! Even the media isn't swallowing them all."

"Nonetheless, as humans say, a lie repeated enough times may be taken as truth."

"The saying doesn't go quite like that, but I understand what you mean. All right, I'll keep it in mind."

* * *

"Mr. Spock, any sign of the survey team?" They'd already been walking for half an hour after beaming down to the planet's surface on the outskirts of a major city.

"Not yet, Captain. They should have been based near these coordinates, but the tricorder is not picking up any sign of their communicators or of any of their equipment."

"Very well. Let's move toward those hills. They look like a good place to set up camp. If their leader was any good, we should find some traces of them there. Lieutenant Thomson, you and Hill take position near those trees and give us cover. There shouldn't be anyone nearby, but let's not run any unnecessary risks. Siena, come with us."

"Aye, sir," replied Thomson. She signaled Hill to move right while she went left. Ensign Siena, the young technical specialist Mr. Scott had chosen to accompany them, closed in on the two superior officers as she scanned the area with her tricorder. Kirk noticed the device was having trouble picking up nearby signals. Some kind of interference. She tried adjusting the settings, with little success.

The security officers weren't even ten meters away from the group when Spock said quietly, "Captain, I believe we're being observed."

"Where, Spock?" Kirk surreptitiously checked his surroundings, trying to identify what his first officer had seen.

"We are surrounded, sir." The moment Spock said that, they could see soldiers emerging from behind the trees and some nearby rocks. Kirk turned, and there were more running towards them. They were carrying dangerous-looking firearms and didn't look friendly.

One of them, wearing a small tricorne hat in place of a helmet, marched closer, loudly demanding their surrender. Kirk looked at the angry native, noticing his pointed ears and yellow-tinted skin, and turned to Spock.

"The briefing photos didn't do them justice. They do look somewhat like Vulcans - that is, if Vulcans could get jaundice. I don't know, can you get jaundice?"

"Captain, we can discuss appearances and Vulcan diseases later. Should we surrender or attempt to run?"

"Not much chance of running away, and if we fight, there'll be casualties on both sides. Not an auspicious start for interplanetary relations. All right, we surrender."

The five members of the _Enterprise_ team dropped their phasers and the soldiers grabbed them and pushed them, roughly, into a large wheeled transport parked nearby, and drove away.

* * *

A/N: Updated with corrections. All thanks to my brilliant beta, Ersatz Einstein, for helping me turn this into readable form.

The Doctor will appear in the next chapter. Note that this is the Star Trek universe, but one where Time Lords also came into existence.

You shouldn't have to know the Doctor to enjoy this story: the crew of the _Enterprise_ certainly don't know him yet.


	3. Diplomatic Talks: Imprisoned

**Episode I: Diplomatic Talks**

 **Chapter 2: Imprisoned**

Summary: Kirk meets a mysterious stranger, the Doctor. He has important information to give them.

* * *

 _Captain's log, supplemental. After being captured and thrown into a cell, we've waited for hours for an opportunity to negotiate our release. The guards were brutal during our capture but have since left us alone in a dark, damp, and cold cell that seems to be deep underground. Our communicators, tricorders, and phasers have been confiscated, but Thomson says that, given time, she might be able to pick the door lock. I've decided it's better to try to arrange for our release in order to avoid further harm to Galinedorian relations, but we've been ignored thus far. While we have received a couple of bowls of water, we've been given no food and, apart from a brief interrogation when we arrived at this facility, no one has spoken with us._

The four humans and a Vulcan rested on the benches along the walls of the cell, nursing their bruises. Luckily, the Starfleet captain mused, no one had been seriously injured. They talked little and kept their voices low, hoping to hear the guard's approach. That is, if there was one. They had heard nothing yet from the neighboring cells, so they were beginning to believe they were alone in their part of the prison. However, the first officer's sharper hearing was able to pick up faint echoes before any of his companions.

"Captain, I hear steps in the corridor outside," Spock whispered.

Kirk stood and went to the door of their cell, intending to attract the attention of whoever passed by. Before long, he was able to watch through the barred upper portion of the cell door as a group of burly guards dragged closer someone who appeared to be severely injured. One of the guards struck his baton on the door and commanded Kirk to step back, which he did. They opened the door and threw the new prisoner inside.

"You thought we wouldn't find your spy," the leader said, laughing, "but we did! If we find any more humans around, they're dead."

The guards moved away and Kirk, with Hill's help, carried the man, bloody and unconscious, to one of the benches. The others stood nearby, curious about the newcomer but careful to avoid crowding him. The dim light from the single lamp inside the cell was barely enough to see his features. He was tall, thin, and very pale, dressed in some kind of brown suit over a cream-colored turtleneck shirt, brown trousers, and strange shoes with rubber soles. His clothes were dirty, torn, and bloodied. His hair was wild, sticking up and in one place, where he seemed to have received a nasty blow, plastered with blood. He was breathing with difficulty, and his lips were split from the beating he'd clearly suffered at the hands of the guards. Hill, who had field training as a nurse, began to examine him while Kirk stood to talk with Spock.

"Brutes!" he exclaimed, frustrated and angry. Taking a few deep breaths to control himself, he turned to his first officer. "Poor guy. They think he's with us. You've studied the profiles of the members of the survey team. Do you recognize him?"

"He appears to be human, but I do not think he is a member of the survey team. He is taller than any of the members of the team, and his clothing is in neither the standard Federation nor the local style. While in his condition it's hard to make a positive identification, his features are clearly distinct from the three male components of the team. I believe him to be a civilian, Captain, who somehow made his way to the planet. Possibly a trader or one of the fringe explorers."

"Galinedoria Beta IV is a quarantined world, Spock! No other citizen from the Federation should be here."

"I know that, Captain," said Spock, somehow managing to convey exasperation in spite of the flat tone of his voice. "Nevertheless, he is here. Perhaps he will be able to tell us more upon regaining consciousness."

At that moment, Hill stood. "I'm sorry, Captain, but I'm not sure he'll survive. Without a tricorder I can't tell for sure, but from his symptoms he seems to be in shock. He's unconscious, his pulse is erratic, and he seems to be suffering from severe hypothermia. He suffered a number of blows to his head and upper body, and he probably has a concussion, besides a number of broken ribs. It's possible he's suffering from internal bleeding as well. He needs immediate medical care."

Kirk went to the door to call for the guards, but ten minutes of screaming and banging on the door yielded no results. Frustrated, he turned to their fellow prisoner and crouched down next to the bench to look at his face. The man was not part of his crew, but he felt responsible for him anyway. He decided that, for his sake, they should try to leave the place sooner rather than later.

"I'm Captain Kirk, from Starfleet. Just hang in there, pal. We may have to wait a little while until the guards get bored again, but then we'll try to escape. You'll come with us."

Suddenly, the man began to groan and tried to say something. Kirk started, surprised, but bent closer, trying to hear what he was saying.

"Hello, Captain. If you just could move a bit to the left, please ..."

"Calm down and rest. You're in no condition to do anything now," said Kirk, assuming he wanted to sit up.

"No, you don't understand, I'm not in as bad a shape as it seems. I'm faking it. They're watching," he whispered, barely moving his lips.

Kirk quickly understood what he meant, so without turning he lowered his voice.

"How do you know? And, by the way, who are you and how did you get here?"

"Oh, you can call me Doctor, and it's not easy to notice but there are three cameras in this cell. One camera behind you, near the corner, another above the door, and the last one in the middle of the back wall. There are also at least two microphones. If you move slightly to the left, Captain, I may be able to do something about them."

Kirk noticed the man's left hand had moved into his suit, and did as he asked, moving his body to hide his hand from the camera presumably behind him. He wondered how the stranger had managed to identify the cameras when they hadn't, particularly so quickly after getting there.

The Doctor picked up a strange cylindrical instrument with a glowing blue tip. It began to buzz softly as he took advantage of the cover provided by Kirk to wave it a bit.

"I can disable the microphones, but not right now. It wouldn't be good if they got suspicious and just moved us to another cell."

"Doctor, what is that thing?"

"Ah, it's just my sonic screwdriver. I built it myself. I sort of like tinkering and building things."

"You hid it in your clothes! Very good. They took all our equipment and weapons."

"They didn't–" He winced in pain. "They didn't think I might have inner pockets. They've kind of fallen out of fashion, haven't they, but I've always thought pockets are useful ..."

"Are you sure you're all right? You don't seem well."

"I'm okay… Well, not quite, you see, they were quite enthusiastic, and I couldn't fake passing out too soon. But we've been talking for too long, Captain. You should tell your people about the surveillance, but try to act normally. They expect you to attempt an escape, so you might try to distract them a bit. I have some information that you must know. I'll explain what I can later."

"Very well. Rest for a bit while I talk to my team."

Once the Doctor had hidden his tool, Kirk stood and called Hill to watch over him. He went to the other members of the away team. They'd been watching him talk to the injured man and were curious.

"He's not well. We'll have to leave soon if he's to survive, so waiting for a negotiated release is no longer an option," he spoke softly, but not too much, so the microphones would pick up his words. He motioned them closer and signaled them to follow his lead. "Right now, it's better not to move him, so we'll have to wait a bit and see if he can recover enough to walk out on his own. Any ideas?"

As they discussed escape plans in low voices, he continued using hand signals to communicate that they were being watched and listened to, and that they needed to be careful in what they said. The security code Spock had been insisting the whole crew should learn was proving to be very valuable and well worth their effort. Spock gestured back to confirm that he could also see the cameras. Of course, Kirk thought, once his first officer knew to look for them, his Vulcan eyesight would quickly spot them.

Leaving them to talk strategy, Kirk knelt by the bench to resume talking with the Doctor.

"Be careful not to overexert yourself. Our nurse has examined you. He said you have broken bones and possible internal bleeding, and we don't have any means of helping you here. We may have to move soon for your sake."

"Things are more dangerous than you know, Captain. They beat me because they were hoping to force you into escaping to try to save my life. They plan to kill us as soon as we try."

"How do you know that? Who are you?"

"Oh, just a traveler passing by, Captain. I wasn't planning to land here, really, but-" Another wince cut him short.

"We'll have more time to talk later," said Kirk. "Right now, just tell me what we need to know in order to escape."

"I heard them talking when they thought I was out. There are others here, outsiders interested in this planet. They plan to force your ship to fire on the planet, or if they can't, to fake an attack. Your deaths while escaping would serve as an explanation."

Kirk felt a shiver down his spine. If what the Doctor said was true, they had landed in the middle of a conspiracy to sabotage the diplomatic efforts of the Federation. Given the current political climate in the Federation council, the results could be explosive. Galinedoria Beta IV itself wasn't of great strategic importance, but it was a heavily populated planet, and such an incident there could have grave repercussions.

He looked back to the injured man and noticed he was watching him, as if measuring his reaction. The Doctor nodded. "Yes, Captain, it's a tricky situation. We must be careful or many will suffer."

"I suppose you have a plan."

"Yes. We should try to leave in three and a half hours, when the night shift is at its least attentive. The Galinedorians have a relatively inflexible circadian rhythm, you see."

"How do you know that?" asked the surprised Captain.

"Ah, just something I've heard in passing. Very fortunate, though."

"Very. All right. Thomson said she could pick the lock, but with the cameras we'll have to hurry. Even if they're half asleep ..."

"No. Listen, Captain. Don't worry about that. I can handle it. You should try to convince whoever is listening that we'll try to escape in the morning. Make up a good, believable plan. You've seen the room on the opposite side of the corridor, right?"

"Yes, we noticed that they left our equipment there."

"Phasers and communicators, yes. They want you to think you can use your ship's transporters to beam out, but we're too deep–" He winced again. "I can't hold it much longer, I must go to sleep ..."

"No you can't. You have a concussion, it's too dangerous!"

"Believe me, Captain, I know my condition very well." He looked into Kirk's eyes. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. There's a way we can escape while avoiding any confrontation with the guards. You just do your best to convince them that we'll wait until morning – that's some six hours from now. You should sleep too, and send your nurse. Hurry, please," he added, grimacing and turning his head.

"All right," said Kirk. He wasn't at all sure of their odds, but somehow he felt he could trust the man to know what he was doing. He stood and, not bothering to keep his voice low, told the others that the Doctor was resting and asked Hill to check on him.

As Hill bent to check his patient's pulse, the Doctor muttered something. He crouched closer and, clearly obeying the Doctor's instructions, moved to block the hidden cameras' view of the injured man's hands. Kirk understood, the Doctor was getting ready to disable the microphones. He gathered Spock and Thomson and resumed their discussion on escape plans. They were whispering, but they were close enough to one of the microphones to ensure most of their words would be heard. He suggested a morning escape attempt and they began hashing out the details. They ended up with a fairly reasonable plan. There weren't many viable options, but Spock's memory of the path they followed when coming down to the cell level was good enough to plan a couple of alternate routes. If they could get close enough to ground level the _Enterprise_ 's transporters would be able to beam them up. For good measure, Kirk mentioned that they were too tired to run right away anyway, so they'd have a better chance in the morning.

When they finished, he told the others to go to sleep. He really hoped that any listeners would fall for their ruse and relax their guard, and that the Doctor's plan, whatever it was, would work, because they had no other workable ideas except fighting it out, as their captors wanted, and hoping to survive. As they were moving to their bunks to try to sleep, he noticed the Doctor shifting to lie on his back and Hill coming to report on his condition. That was when he knew the plan was in motion.

He told Hill to lie down, and pulled Spock aside. He quietly told him what the Doctor had said and listened to his views on the situation before both went to their benches to sleep, or at least fake it.

* * *

A/N: Updated with corrections. Thanks again to my brilliant beta, Ersatz Einstein, without whom this chapter would have been far less enjoyable.


	4. Diplomatic Talks: Breakout

**Episode I: Diplomatic Talks**

 **Chapter 3: Breakout**

Summary: Spock is curious about the Doctor, some questions are answered while new ones are raised, and they attempt to escape.

* * *

Spock stayed awake and alert, sitting on his bench in a meditation pose and monitoring the situation. The rest of his team, even the captain, had dozed off in spite of the uncomfortable benches. He noticed that their fellow prisoner hadn't moved in all that time. Three hours into the enforced silence, he was considering waking up the rest of the team when he noticed the Doctor moving slightly.

The Vulcan was curious about the so-called 'doctor'. There were many incongruities in both his words and his person. But the captain had limited their conversation about the stranger earlier, and he had agreed fully with the decision. There was only so much they could convey with the signal language they'd adopted. It was designed for fast, concealed communication of crucial information in situations they might be under surveillance; as a result, it was unwieldy and inadequate for extended discussion and elaborate reasoning. Furthermore, talking needed to be kept to a minimum for the moment, not only to avoid attracting the attention of those monitoring them, but also to prevent the Doctor from overhearing. It would be unwise to risk letting their suspicions be known, especially when they couldn't do anything about them at present.

It was possible, but unlikely, that the Doctor was working with their captors. As a stratagem to put someone closer to them, it seemed unnecessarily convoluted. Besides, Hill had checked at least some of his injuries, and they were real enough. But it was also extremely unlikely that he was just a passerby who had been unwittingly caught in the situation. He was too knowledgeable about what was going on for that. Spock strongly suspected he was involved in some manner that had led him to be caught on the same side as the Enterprise team. At least that meant working with him would be safe until they managed to escape. But the first officer still had to determine whether the Doctor really possessed the knowledge and abilities he claimed, or if he was exaggerating in some way that could result in their deaths.

Spock had had some difficulty identifying the cameras: they were very well disguised, and even with better lighting it would be difficult to spot them. He had only managed it by following clues about their general location, and he couldn't quite understand how the Doctor had done it. Either he had abnormally enhanced senses for a human, or that tool of his could operate like a tricorder.

That was another thing. 'Sonic screwdriver' was an impressive, yet ultimately meaningless name probably unrelated to the underlying technology. Spock knew of a few ways to accomplish the disabling of the microphones that the Doctor claimed he had done. However, each method depended on the technology of said microphones and other circumstances he was unable to ascertain. Even if the blue-tipped cylindrical device really had similar capabilities to a tricorder, disabling the microphones was still an impressive feat, especially when done covertly and from the Doctor's position. Spock knew there was equipment that could be disguised as something like the Doctor's tool. Starfleet still adhered to traditional designs and practical concerns that made their tricorders and other devices look like cumbersome, if highly reliable, antiques. But intelligence personnel, among others, had different needs. Still, pragmatic considerations meant that interfacing with a miniaturized device would be a problem, and that could limit the flexibility of such a tool.

His medical condition was also in question. Nurse Hill had been confused by the conflicting symptoms he found when examining him. Spock wasn't familiar with human physiology, but even he knew that some of the symptoms pointed to significant, possibly life-threatening, trauma. However, in spite of his obvious pain, the Doctor had seemed perfectly coherent, aware of his situation, and convinced he'd recover enough to help them. But it was possible that he was deluded, or at the very least incorrect about his prognosis. For that reason, Spock had kept a quiet watch on his sleep and monitored his breathing, alert for any sign of change in his condition.

Now that the Doctor was awake, Spock was determined to find out more about him and whether they could trust him to help them escape. He stood and approached him, intent on questioning him about his plans. He noticed that the tool was in the Doctor's hand, partially hidden between his body and the wall. The blue tip was barely glowing at all, but a buzzing noise came and went, presumably as he fiddled with its settings.

"Doctor, I am Spock. Are you feeling better?" He kept his voice soft, as there could be other listening devices outside the cell.

"I'm fine, Spock," he answered at the same volume, somewhat annoyed. "We'll have to move soon. The guards must be less alert by now."

"I'll call the others, then."

"No, wait. I'm about to loop the images from the cameras. Return to where you were until I've managed to set the feed to repeat itself. Then you can get them."

Spock wondered how the Doctor's little tool could do that as well and added it to his growing list of things in need of clarification. He went back to the bench and awaited the Doctor's signal. After a while the Doctor sat up and nodded to him, so he approached again. The Doctor began to pull a number of objects from his suit's internal pockets and lay them on his bench, examining them intently. Spock recognized at least two components from a Starfleet computer assembly, some electronic parts and pieces that looked more or less familiar, and others that were definitely of alien design. He finally took two small objects from the pile and put the rest back. Then he turned towards the Vulcan officer, as if surprised he was standing there.

"Spock, I thought you were going to call the others."

"We still have some minutes, Doctor. Maybe I can help you with whatever you're doing now while the others rest for a bit longer."

The Doctor, apparently irritated, seemed to be about to say something, but then stopped and sighed. "I guess I should have expected that. No, you can't help me, unless you have a toolkit hidden somewhere on your person. But I suspect you have questions, eh?"

"I would like to clarify some points, yes."

"All right, just wait a moment while I check something," he whispered. He stood, moving gingerly but otherwise not showing the effects of his injuries, and went next to the cell door. Then he activated his tool, which buzzed softly for a while, shining its blue light towards the lock, then around the door. "I believe it's okay if we talk now, as long as we keep our voices down. There are no other microphones or cameras in the vicinity." He turned back to his bench and sat, picking up the largest item and examining it with his tool.

Spock waited, but the Doctor didn't look back towards him, apparently engrossed in his examination of the object. So he tried to call his attention, "Doctor."

"What?" The Doctor glanced at the Vulcan and went back to fiddling with the thing. "Go on, I can multitask perfectly well. There's a lot to be done and not much time to do it, so if you want to ask questions just go ahead."

"Very well. I assume your tool can function in a manner similar to a tricorder."

"Not really, but maybe you could say that, yes. It has the same functions as a tricorder, among others."

"So that's how you were able to detect the cameras within this cell."

The Doctor looked up and stared at him for a couple of moments. Spock looked back, raising his eyebrow. The Doctor went back to carefully using the tool to do something to the object in his hands. "Not quite. I heard them talking, when they thought I was unconscious, and I realized you were under surveillance. I managed to glimpse a screen showing the viewpoint from the camera situated in the back of the cell, so I could infer the position of the others. But I couldn't be certain until I managed to scan the room under the cover provided by your captain."

"And the microphones?"

"There was only one cable servicing both devices, so it was just a matter of finding a spot where it could be fused. These cells originally had no provision for surveillance equipment, so they had to pass the cables through channels dug into the surrounding rock to minimize leaving visible traces of their work. But the local mice-like critters are particularly fond of electric cables, and the Galinedorians probably have a lot of trouble with them munching through cabling. I'd think they wouldn't be surprised if one was cut."

"That still doesn't explain what you claimed to do with the cameras."

"Their technology is still based on transistors. The optical component is quite sophisticated, but the control circuits can be easily reprogrammed from a distance as long as you have the correct tool. It took some delicate work, but it was perfectly feasible. My tool," he continued, "was built with such uses in mind." He put the object he had been handling to the side, picked up the other, and raised his head to look at the Vulcan. "Are you satisfied now?"

"Just one more question. You haven't told the captain much about yourself. Why should we trust you?" The direct approach should be best, he thought.

"Do you want to discuss it now?" the Doctor replied, examining the item in his hand. He adjusted his tool and began buzzing the object with it. "Maybe because I'm a fellow prisoner whose life is at stake, the same as yours. Maybe because without my help," he glanced briefly to the Vulcan's side, as if he was looking at something behind him, "you might have escaped, but not without casualties or serious repercussions. But chiefly," and at that he looked right into the Vulcan's eyes, "because it's the logical thing to do. I promise you can trust me, Spock. I can't give you stronger reassurances at the moment, but we'll talk later, and I'll tell you all I can. Right now, though, we don't have the time. I hope that that's enough."

"It will do." Spock was impressed by the way the Doctor had understood and responded to his questions. He clearly had a disciplined and logical mind, and was exceptionally intelligent, at least by human standards. He hadn't explained everything, but considering the limited time they had it was more than Spock had expected.

The Doctor nodded and returned to his work. "I'm nearly finished, so you should raise the others. We need to discuss what we're going to do, and I expect your captain will have some questions as well."

"Thank you, Doctor. I will."

By the time the Doctor finally put both objects back on the bench, the away team was already up and around him.

"You look much better now, Doctor. I believe a brief introduction is in order. I'm Captain James Kirk, of the Federation starship Enterprise. Here's my team: Commander Spock, Lieutenant Lara Thomson, Crewman Jack Hill, and Specialist Roxanne Siena," Kirk began. Spock noticed that the Doctor flinched, almost imperceptibly, when he heard their ship's name. Curious.

"Hello, everyone, I'm the Doctor," he said, but before someone could ask the inevitable question, he added quickly, "or if you must, Doctor John Smith, but I prefer that you simply call me Doctor."

"Thank you, Doctor. Now, you said you could open the door lock, right?"

"Yes, but there's a problem. There are a couple of sensor devices in the door. I can deactivate one, but not the other, not in the time we have. I believe I can delay the alarm trigger a bit, but once we break out of the cell, we'll have to move fast." He stood and moved towards the door. Siena, who had been watching him curiously while he tinkered with the objects, followed him.

"Are you recovered enough to run?" Kirk asked. "There's no cover in these corridors, but we can pick up our equipment and then use the stairs at the end of the corridor. Maybe we'll only need to climb a couple of levels before we can contact our ship and beam out."

The Doctor attached one of the devices to the door next to the lock and began to buzz the other with his tool, ignoring the question about his condition. "No, we're too deep. We would have to climb at least three levels before your communicators were able to work. I doubt they'd let us go that far. They're not stupid. We'll have only one chance, and my plan is better."

"Let's hear it, then."

"We move into the guards' room across the corridor. I felt a soft breeze and humming coming from it earlier, so there should be a ventilation shaft that will make it easier to contact your ship."

"He is correct, Captain," said Spock. "I felt it too, though I am uncertain if it will be sufficient."

"All right, we'll try it. Anything to avoid having to fight it out."

"One important thing, though." The Doctor stopped and looked at them. "You mustn't linger behind. I don't know how long we'll have, and there may be other cameras down the corridor. The less time we're exposed the better."

"Agreed. Let's go."

"Wait, I'm almost finished ... There! Quickly now!"

"Everyone, across the corridor and into the room. Pick up your equipment. Spock, try to contact the Enterprise. Doctor, stay close to us," ordered the captain. Spock ran ahead and entered the room, quickly finding the light switch and turning it on. There was a table against the left wall, and on it, the equipment confiscated from the away team. He picked a communicator and his tricorder and moved towards the back wall, where there was a large circular air vent next to the ceiling. He began adjusting the communicator's settings in an effort to pick up the signal from the Enterprise, but there was nothing.

"Brilliant! Here's my coat!" the Doctor exclaimed happily, picking up the long dark brown overcoat draped across a chair near the back of the room. "I didn't want to leave it behind."

Most of the others were already inside the guards' room, but Siena had stopped for a moment to examine the door lock and was the last to leave the cell. At that moment they heard a flurry of shots being fired down the corridor. As she was about to enter the room, she was hit in the arm and fell inside with a cry. Reacting quickly, Thomson pulled her inside while Kirk fired back a few shots with his phaser on stun before Hill closed the door. It was solid and heavy enough to protect them for a while, but they were trapped.

* * *

A/N: Updated with corrections.


	5. Diplomatic Talks: Escape

**Episode I: Diplomatic Talks**

 **Chapter 4: Escape**

Summary: The away team finally escape to the _Enterprise_ , bringing the Doctor with them, but they aren't in the clear yet.

* * *

The door was closed, but they could hear the guards taking up positions outside. Someone pounded at the door and shouted, ordering them to open the door and surrender. They ignored him. Spock was experimenting with the settings on his communicator to see if he could get in contact with the _Enterprise_. Thomson went to the back of the room to check on the ventilation shaft opening while Hill seated Siena and checked her arm with his medikit. The dark-skinned technician was subdued, her pain evident from the grimace in her face, but she remained upright and kept her self-control. Spock stole a glance at the other two in the room. The Doctor looked agitated, pacing from one side to the other and glancing towards the wounded specialist while Kirk stared at him, eyes wide. He asked himself what it was that had surprised the captain.

"I'm sorry, Captain! I underestimated them. I was convinced we'd be able to sneak out before they noticed, but they must've seen through us. The guards were probably waiting all night behind the corners at the stairs and near the elevator." He pulled at his hair, which was already sticking out in all directions. Spock wondered for far from the first time why humans so often resorted to nervous tics.

Without turning, Kirk asked, "Spock, any success in contacting the _Enterprise_?"

"There is a signal, but it's too faint. I am attempting to boost it." But the captain must have noticed his concerned looks at their new friend.

"Doctor, it wasn't your fault. If we'd tried to go for the stairs, we'd have run right into them. We might have overpowered them, but –"

"No no no, you don't understand, Captain! The Wamarraki must have planned for all contingencies."

"Wamarraki?"

"The outsiders I told you about. You see, we have to leave. Now. They have at least one ship in orbit. They won't wait. Your ship, the _Enterprise_ , is in danger!" The Doctor took out his cylindrical tool and began waving it around, pointing it towards the back wall, then turning slowly around.

"Doctor, you could perhaps help me in adjusting the tricorder to serve as a repeater," said Spock, thinking maybe he needed something else to focus on. "One of us could climb into the ventilation shaft and use it to reach the _Enterprise_."

"Well, yes, it might work, good idea, make it a booster, but no…" He frowned and stared at his 'sonic screwdriver' as if he were reading a display, although Spock was reasonably certain that there was none. The captain was also watching and decided to step in.

"Right! Thomson, we'll remove the grill from the vent. Doctor, you help Spock adjust the tricorder," Kirk ordered.

"Ah, no, sorry. Things to do. Just go on. Spock doesn't need me, and I don't need the tricorder. What I need is… a communicator…" He looked around. "Captain, may I have yours?"

Kirk glanced at his first officer and, seeing him shrug, got Thomson's communicator to give the Doctor. "Alright, here it is. Do what you can, and try to stay out of the others' way."

"Thanks, Captain!" He immediately began disassembling the communicator and using his tool at it. Spock stopped watching him and turned his attention to the tricorder.

"Captain, there appears to be a scattering field between us and the _Enterprise_. Mr. Scott must have brought the ship closer and stationed it almost directly on top of this building, otherwise, we would have been unable to get anything. However, it is not enough for communication, or for transporters. It will take me some time to adjust the frequency and compensate for the field."

"Do what you can, Mr. Spock." Kirk and Thomson managed to open the air vent, and the captain helped the lieutenant to climb in to have a look.

"Captain, the ventilation shaft's wide enough to climb into, but there's a grille blocking access to the main shaft. I may be able to remove the fastenings with a phaser."

"Go ahead, Thomson." Kirk passed her the phaser and went to check on Siena. "How's she doing, Mr. Hill?"

"The bullet passed through her arm, sir. It's not good, but it missed the bone and the major blood vessels. I've stopped the bleeding." He indicated the wounded arm, bandaged and wrapped in a sling. "She should avoid moving it too much until we're back on the ship."

"I'm fine, Captain. Are we going to climb in there?"

"If we have to. That alright?"

"No problem, sir!"

"Very good. Siena, see if you can help Spock. Hill, help me move the table so we can use it to climb into the vent."

For a few minutes everyone was busy: the captain, Thomson, and Hill struggled to clear the way into the main shaft as the Doctor busied himself doing something to his communicator and Siena and Spock tried to contact the _Enterprise_. She adjusted the communicator's settings while Spock tuned the tricorder to boost the signal. He said nothing, but he was impressed by the young technician's capability and knowledgeability. He made a mental note to forward a commendation for her performance to Mr. Scott.

While they managed to get the signal clear enough to hear Mr. Scott's voice for a couple of seconds, there was a lot of noise, and he realized that their task was going to be harder than he'd thought. He turned to talk to Siena, but at that moment he smelled something strange.

"Captain! They're using gas."

"Gas?" The Doctor jumped and ran closer to the vent, sniffing the air. "Ah, nothing to worry about. Just some kind of tear gas with a mild hallucinogen added to the mix."

Kirk gaped at the Doctor. "Nothing to worry about?"

"It's not as if it was nerve gas, is it? They don't want to kill us, not yet. Just force your hand, make you desperate."

"I'd say it's working," said the captain, already feeling the effects in his eyes and throat. "Spock, can we contact the _Enterprise_?"

"Perhaps, Captain. We will have a greater chance from inside the ventilation shaft."

"All right, everyone, let's climb in."

"But the gas is coming from it!" exclaimed Siena. "We'll suffocate."

"No we won't, and that's an order. Doctor, you too."

But the Doctor was absorbed in whatever adjustments he was making to the communicator and didn't even raise his head. "Just a moment. I'm almost there."

All but the Doctor and the captain had already climbed in. Spock was lying on the horizontal shaft waiting to help them. Kirk pressed, "Doctor. Now."

"Alright, alright, I'm coming! I think I've done it. Try this, Captain," he said, using the chair as a step to climb up the table and handing him the modified communicator. Kirk tried it as the Doctor pointed his buzzing tool towards it.

"Captain! Are you all right?" came Scotty's voice.

"Scotty, six to beam up. Fix on my and Spock's positions. Do it now!" As he finished, they all felt the transporter's effects and soon found themselves in the _Enterprise_ 's transporter room. Though coughing a bit from the gas, they were all right. The communicator in Kirk's hand sizzled and smoked, and he dropped it, barely noticing as he did so.

"Scotty, raise shields!" Kirk hadn't forgotten the Doctor's warning that the _Enterprise_ might be attacked. "Report."

"Shields are up, Cap'n! We lowered them just long enough for the transports. We got worried when you missed the scheduled check-ins, so I brought the _Enterprise_ close to the planet to search for you. The Galinedorians detected us and sent some shuttles to try to scare us away. We're talking to them, but they can't harm us, sir, not with our shields up."

"Excellent work, Mr. Scott." The door opened and a medical team led by Doctor McCoy rushed in to check the members of the team.

"My God, Jim, what happened down there? Your eyes are red…"

"Siena was shot, Bones. Check her first." He turned to their guest. "Welcome to the _Enterprise_ , Doctor. Thank you for your help. I'll need to talk to you later, but first you should go to sickbay to have your injuries checked. I have to go to the bridge. Spock, with me."

"Captain, I should go with you. You may need my help against the Wamarraki."

"I concur, Captain," said Spock.

Kirk looked between the two of them and quickly made up his mind. "Very well, but you'll have to do as we say, no hesitation or delay. Is that clear?"

"Clear, Captain!" The Doctor grinned and strode forward to join the two command officers as they left. Spock noticed that Kirk signaled one of the two security officers posted there to follow them. The Doctor might be an ally, but he was still a stranger on the _Enterprise_.

* * *

The Doctor walked behind them, looking around curiously, while Kirk talked with Spock. But as they entered the turbolift, the captain turned to their guest.

"Doctor, who are the Wamarraki? I don't remember having heard about them. Spock, you?"

"No, Captain. As far as I know, there is no record of a species known as Wamarraki."

"The Wamarraki aren't a species. They're mercenaries. Technically a semi-official force within the Omora Confederacy, but they sometimes act beyond the confederacy's borders. You wouldn't have heard of them."

"The Omora are a long way from the Federation borders. We know little about them beyond the fact that they exist. How do you know about them?" Kirk asked.

"I've never been there, if that's what you're asking, but I met a small group of Wamarraki once. I recognized them here from their badges."

"What can you tell us about them?"

"Well, it all depends on who they're working for. They often use others' weapons and ships, so I can't tell you what you might be facing, but they're well-trained, ruthless, and extremely dedicated and loyal to their employers. But they normally rely on their fearsome reputation to scare the opposition into fleeing or surrendering outright. They aren't known for employing covert tactics, as seems to be the case here."

"How would the Galinedorians have found and hired them?"

"I don't think they're on the Galinedorians' payroll. No, I believe both are being used by a third party who doesn't want to show itself."

"I concur, Captain. If the Galinedorians wanted to recruit mercenaries, there would be other options, much closer to their planet," Spock added.

"And cheaper, too," the Doctor completed.

As they prepared to enter the bridge, the red alert began to sound. Kirk went straight to his chair. "Report, Mr. Sulu."

"There's a fleet of eight Galinedorian vessels coming in our direction. Highly elliptical trajectory. They haven't responded to our hails, but the two similar vessels that were shadowing us have assumed a more aggressive posture. It's possible they're getting ready to attack."

Spock assumed his post and checked the vessels' projected paths. "Captain, these ships are armed with missiles with high-yield nuclear warheads, six per vessel. If they fire at us from their current trajectory, any missile that misses will enter the atmosphere and impact on the planet's surface."

"Why risk killing their own people to get us?"

"They don't care, Captain." It was the Doctor who responded, Spock noted, surprised. He was standing towards the back of the bridge, leaning against the rail and watching the trajectory data displayed in the bridge viewscreen. It carried less information than the science station's scope, but it showed the whole planet's surface. "Their missiles would impact on the southern continent. Those currently leading the world council are from the northern continent. They are fierce rivals." Spock remembered it mentioned in passing in the briefing papers. The Doctor was not only well informed, but clearly possessed of a very good memory and a quick mind.

"How long before they come into range?" Kirk asked.

"They could release the missiles at any point, sir," Chekhov piped up. "They'd follow a ballistic trajectory towards us. Both they and their missiles will be upon us in fifteen minutes, but we can easily evade or shoot them down."

"Not so fast, Mr. Chekhov. There are nearly fifty missiles and we can't be sure of getting them all. I don't want any casualties among the Galinedorians… Very well. Let's back off. They want to provoke us into a fight, but we can simply refuse. They can't fire at us if we're not in front of them, and they don't have enough fuel to follow us around. Mr. Sulu –"

"Captain! The two closest vessels have changed course. They're coming at us, sir!" Chekhov called.

"On screen." Everyone on the bridge saw as the two vessels, in fact smaller and just a little more advanced than the old NASA space shuttles, closed in and fired.

Spock watched as the bridge crew worked to shoot the twelve projectiles down with phasers on minimum, high dispersion. Even if they impacted their shields, a few missiles wouldn't be enough to damage the starship, but caution was the logical path. Spock noted that the Doctor was silently observing all from the back of the bridge, frowning slightly. He was about to turn back to watch the progress of the 'battle' on the main screen when a sensor beeped on his console.

"Captain, there's a ship uncloaking behind us," he reported. "It looks like a Klingon Bird of Prey."

"Evasive maneuvers! Uhura, open a channel."

However, before the main viewscreen could pan to show the warship behind them, it fired, its beams bypassing the _Enterprise_ and hitting the Galinedorian vessels. The bridge crew watched, horrified, as the two small ships were utterly destroyed before them. The screen shifted just in time to show, for a couple of moments, a black warship against the brilliant background of the planet below them, before it cloaked again and disappeared.

* * *

A/N: Updated with corrections.


	6. Diplomatic Talks: Space Combat

**Episode I: Diplomatic Talks**

 **Chapter 5: Space Combat**

Summary: The _Enterprise_ has to fight a mysterious cloaked ship.

* * *

Kirk felt the increased acceleration as the inertial compensators struggled to keep up with a tight turn. He watched proudly as the helmsman sent the _Enterprise_ into a series of apparently random loops and turns designed to counter the advantage of a cloaked vessel in close combat while the other bridge officers looked for traces of the hidden ship. Since their first encounter with a Romulan warship near the neutral zone, they'd been developing tactics against cloaked opponents that forced them to risk exposing themselves when attacking. Now he would see if all their efforts were enough to emerge victorious. Besides their cloaking device, the enemy had another significant advantage, since the _Enterprise_ had to worry about minimizing casualties on the planet below.

"Spock, analysis."

"The ship bears a strong resemblance to the Klingon Birds of Prey Starfleet has already encountered, but there are enough significant differences to suggest this is a new, heretofore unknown design. The impulse engines have the standard Klingon energy signature, but I have also identified some energy traces not previously associated with Klingon vessels. It might be a prototype, modified to incorporate a cloaking device similar to that used by the Romulans."

"Could a normal Klingon warship have been acquired and extensively modified by the mercenaries the Doctor mentioned?"

"It is possible, Captain."

"Sir," Sulu broke in, "we could climb to a higher altitude, using pattern Gamma Three, to give ourselves more space to maneuver." The _Enterprise_ had begun to climb to a more stable orbit as soon as they were aboard, only to stop when the Galinedorians attacked. As a result, they were still about eight hundred kilometers above the surface of the planet, which limited the maneuvers they could perform. There was also the small matter of the other Galinedorian vessels approaching in an attack vector, armed with nuclear-tipped missiles.

"Good idea, Mr. Sulu–"

"Don't!" Surprised, Kirk turned and saw the Doctor looking straight at him. He was holding on to the rail behind the Captain's chair, managing to stand straight in spite of the wildly maneuvering ship. The two security officers posted to the bridge watched him closely, but he ignored them completely. "Captain, I advise caution before trying to move too far from our current position."

Kirk returned the stare, but the intensity in the Doctor's eyes made him shiver. "Why?"

"That warship is here to pin the _Enterprise_ down until the other Galinedorian vessels are close enough to engage. If you try to leave the area, they'll fire on us from behind."

Kirk hadn't missed the brief look of horrified realization in the Doctor's eyes at the first shots in the prison. He'd quickly managed to mask it under a facade of mere anxiety, but that made the Captain suspect the situation was more dangerous than they'd thought. The cloaked warship, though an unpleasant surprise, hadn't been completely unexpected. He only hoped there wouldn't be any other nasty surprises in their future.

"Doctor, if you know anything about their goals and tactics we can use, now is the time to tell us." Kirk knew he'd have to wait until the current crisis had been resolved before he could really interrogate the Doctor, but that didn't mean he couldn't seek some answers before then.

"They want evidence they can use to claim the Enterprise fired on the planet," the Doctor began as if he were a teacher repeating the lesson for the umpteenth time to a particularly dimwitted student. "They're trying to force a confrontation between you and the Galinedorians. The cloaked warship hasn't fired on us yet, but if they see you moving away, they will. You'd have to evade and reply. Any stray shot may hit a populated area in the planet below. If that happens, they win." The bridge crew, with the exception of the busy Sulu and Chekov, joined the captain in listening to the Doctor's explanation, openmouthed at his arrogance. He hadn't even bothered to react to the implied accusation.

"Doctor." Kirk forced himself to stay calm. "The _Enterprise_ will not fire in the planet's direction, and we'll certainly not fire on their populated areas."

"Ah, but they won't care who fires the shots. They want real casualties on the ground and evidence to pin them on the Federation. The weapon's energy signature should do nicely. I believe you'll find that the warship has been equipped with standard Starfleet weapons."

"He is correct, Captain," Spock said. "The energy signature on the debris field corresponds to that of a phaser of the same type as those on the _Enterprise_. I would also add that the warship uses low-observable techniques to minimize detection even when uncloaked."

"You mean it's painted black," Kirk translated.

"Exactly. The Galinedorian radar cannot track either of us, but they are almost certainly monitoring us carefully on their long-range optical scanners."

The Doctor was grinning. "You got it. If you fire at them when they're between us and the planet, or if that ship gets close enough to fire downwards from our position, they'll have the records to pin the casualties on you."

"But we managed to escape from the prison without casualties, or even serious injuries, on either side. They can no longer claim that as an explanation for a purported attack from the _Enterprise_." Kirk felt a headache forming. He didn't appreciate being lectured at.

"I have to admit I misjudged the situation earlier. They, or rather the Wamarraki, didn't care whether we died or not. They don't need an explanation." The Doctor was becoming more animated by the minute, and he started to pace and wave his arms around. He almost fell as the ship initiated another turn, forcing him to hurriedly reach for the handrail. "Most likely, they wanted us to try to escape because it was the best way to keep the _Enterprise_ close to the planet's surface. Maybe they also hoped to convince Mr. Scott, or Mr. Sulu here, to fire on the prison building in an attempt to disable the scattering field and rescue your team. What's certain is that the moment we left the prison cell, their plan was set into motion." He pointed at Kirk. "That was when the Galinedorians dropped from high orbit with orders to attack the _Enterprise_. They didn't expect us to leave the surface so fast. That warship uncloaking was their contingency plan."

"Thank you, Doctor," he said, managing to hide his irritation. The man's reasoning made sense. Of course, he would've eventually arrived at the same conclusions, but time was admittedly short. "Very well. Let's see how far those Galinedorian pilots are willing to go. Mr. Sulu, we are currently above the equatorial region, and the ships are approaching from the northwest. Let's keep our altitude, but slowly move northwards to see how they react."

Sulu changed his maneuver pattern so that each loop and turn would bring them a little further north. Not two minutes had passed before the Galinedorians noticed and adjusted their trajectories, sacrificing part of their precious fuel reserves in their unwillingness to lose the _Enterprise_. Their trajectory would take them past the maneuvering _Enterprise_ towards the southeastern tip of the main continent, a heavily populated area close to the capital.

"Captain, Galinedorian space control is contacting us, demanding that we move away," said Uhura.

"Tell them to call off their ships."

"Sir, they say the ships are refusing to acknowledge their orders. They sound scared."

"I'll bet they are. Any sign of our cloaked friend?"

"The exhaust of their impulse engines indicates that they are close, but not enough to pinpoint their location," said Spock. "

"Well, we can't stick around. How long until those ships are on us, Mr. Chekov?"

"Nine minutes, Captain."

"Mr. Sulu, let's move southeast. It'll seem as if we're running from them, but any missiles they fire towards us would fall on the ocean, and it'll buy us some time." Any nuclear missile explosion inside the atmosphere would be a nightmare, especially on a heavily populated planet. But he had to do his best to minimize the risk to urban areas. He watched as Sulu made a slightly wider turn, moving them a thousand kilometers south in a few seconds. The Galinedorian vessels quickly adjusted their trajectory to keep the _Enterprise_ in their sights.

"Very well, those vessels are intent on attacking us and they don't seem to care about their own casualties. We can't move away safely until we've dealt with the cloaked warship. I want options."

Before anyone had a chance to say anything, the Bird of Prey uncloaked again and fired, as if to remind them of its existence and continued threat. Fortunately, Sulu had just begun an inverted loop, so the beams only grazed the _Enterprise_ shields before dissipating into deep space. There was still a definite impact, and some of the bridge stations glowed red with warning lights. Chekov fired phasers in response, but the warship had already disappeared. They watched as their beams passed beyond the horizon to the planet's night side, illuminated by the bright lights of the southern continent's large urban areas.

Kirk punched the internal comm switch. "Damage report!"

The various sections reported clear, except in engineering, where a capacitor had blown up, injuring three crewmen.

"Shields at ninety-five percent strength, sir. Phasers ready."

"Thank you, Mr. Chekov. Now, about those –"

"Captain, a satellite in a low orbit has a low-intensity laser beam on us," interjected Spock. "It is most likely meant to guide their missiles towards us, as their radar is ineffective."

"Chekov, shoot it down."

"Two other satellites have joined the first, sir," the tactical officer reported, quickly adjusting the sensors to track them on the viewscreen. "There are also lasers on us from both the attacking vessels and an unknown planetside installation. If they fire their missiles now, they'll be able to track us even at this distance. We must shoot them down before that."

"I would not recommend that course of action," Spock intervened. "The moment we fire at their launcher platforms, those ships that survive will immediately fire all their weapons. The missiles might attempt to follow us through our maneuvers, lose track and be diverted towards the planet."

"I agree," Kirk replied. "Mr. Chekov, destroy the satellites, but do not fire on the vessels. The last thing we want is a cloud of missiles on wild trajectories. They'd be all but impossible to track and shoot down before they entered the atmosphere." The captain noticed that the Doctor was barely able to contain himself. "Do you want to say something, Doctor?"

"I thought you'd never ask." He beamed and stepped around the rail to approach the captain's chair. "I believe I can help you track the vessel while it's cloaked."

"Would that be possible? How?"

"I need to use your science station, but yes. I think I can calculate the frequency of the cloaking device and adjust your sensors accordingly."

Kirk glanced at his science officer. Seeing Spock's slight nod, he turned back to the Doctor. "Very well, do what you can. Mr. Spock, help him. How long do we have now, Mr. Chekov?"

"They're seven minutes away at most, sir."

"Mr. Sulu, let's keep drifting south. The further we can divert them from populated areas, the better."

"Sir, it's uncloaking again!" cried Chekov. "Above and ahead of us!"

The viewscreen panned to show the black warship against the starlit background. It fired again, and this time Sulu's maneuvers were not enough. The _Enterprise_ was hit by one of the beams, and the whole ship shuddered. The other beam missed, hitting the planet below. They could see the bright flash near an urban area on the night side.

"Shields holding, sir. 82% strength," reported Chekov.

"Damage report! Any casualties on the ground?"

"Unlikely, Captain. The beam hit a field some distance away from the nearest group of houses," said Spock, using the auxiliary station next to his own. Kirk saw that the Doctor was using his 'screwdriver' on the science station's instruments and looking through the scope, ignoring all that was happening around him.

"We were lucky this time, Captain. All sections fully operational, and there were no casualties apart from a sprained ankle on Deck Nine," reported Uhura.

"We can't count on luck. We have to stop the Bird of Prey. Your status, Doctor? Doctor!"

"Oh, yes Captain, I'm almost there." He didn't even raise his head from the scope.

"How long?"

"A few minutes at most."

"We don't have a few minutes!" he snapped, but the Doctor didn't react. Well, he'd do his best to make the time. "Mr. Sulu, let's head up. When that ship uncloaks again, be ready to make a hard left and dive towards the planet's south pole. Mr. Chekov, it'll probably fire from behind us. Shift power to rear shields, and don't fire phasers unless there's no chance of hitting the planet. Set the torpedoes to explode before entering the upper atmosphere. Prepare the rear photon torpedo launcher, but don't use it yet."

"Yes, sir."

As expected, Spock reported half a minute later that the ship was decloaking behind them. Sulu immediately initiated the prepared maneuver, causing its shots to miss completely. Kirk knew their opponent would catch up, but for the moment at least, he'd outwitted them.

"Mr. Sulu, when it appears again, be ready to turn left–"

"Here it comes!" called Spock. Sulu didn't wait for the confirmation and turned left, sending the _Enterprise_ east. This time, however, the beams connected.

"Left shields failing, 47% strength!"

"Captain, decks five, twelve, and thirteen report casualties. Sixteen injured, left phaser bank down," Uhura announced.

Kirk turned to check on the Doctor. He watched as the man straightened.

"Ha! You should be able to track it in a few moments, Captain!" Kirk saw that the Doctor was bracing himself against the science console, but as soon as he noticed the captain looking, he tried to stand up. It was obvious his injury had been somehow exacerbated by the effort of the last few minutes. His face was contorted with pain and he could barely stand. Spock saw it too, and stepped in to help him return to the chair.

"Mr. Chekov?"

"Captain, we can track it! It's closing in again, above and behind us."

'Gotcha!' he thought before turning to their guest. "Well done, Doctor! Mr. Chekov, extend the shields to their maximum radius and stand ready with phasers."

"But, sir, it'll weaken the shields, and we'll suffer more damage if we're hit!"

"We have to prevent enemy fire from reaching the planet, Ensign. Mr. Sulu, resume evasive maneuvers, and keep an eye on our left flank. I don't want them to suspect that we can track them."

"Very well, sir."

A few moments later, the warship did indeed uncloak, with the _Enterprise_ almost perfectly blocking its line of fire towards the planet. Chekov had the aft torpedo ready and, before it could do anything else, he managed a hit. The Bird of Prey apparently suffered severe damage. It limped away, unable to cloak, trailing smoke and debris.

"Stay on their tail. Uhura, open a channel. Tell them to surrender."

But the Wamarraki weren't about to give up. They fired their engines and began diving towards the planet. They'd successfully maneuvered to take the _Enterprise_ out of their immediate path, and they were aiming for the planet's second largest city.

"Torpedoes, full spread! Destroy it now!"

They fired, destroying the ship. They took a few seconds to watch the ball of fire grow and dissipate, though they weren't out of the woods yet.

"Mr. Sulu, assume high orbit, fast as you can, thirty thousand kilometers minimum. Mr. Chekov, be ready to shoot down any missiles the Galinedorians fire before we leave. Lt. Uhura, contact the Galinedorian government and tell them we want to talk to the Federation special envoy, Mr. Williams, immediately. And Doctor, head to the sickbay now. Mr. Rahdi, you'll stay with the Doctor until Doctor McCoy checks him."

"No, I'm fine, really," the Doctor protested as the security officer approached to help him stand, but it was obvious he wasn't fine.

Kirk punched his chair's internal comm switch. "Bones, I'm sending a patient to you. He's injured, and don't believe him when he says he's fine."

" _Jim, his case'd better be really serious, because we're swamped_."

"It is. I'll want your report as soon as possible."

"But, Captain," the Doctor insisted, "my ship's still on the surface. I must recover her. The Galinedorians must not find her!"

"Don't worry, Doctor, we won't leave orbit until everything's been resolved. You just let us know where your ship is, and we'll recover her for you."

"No, you don't understand. She's secured so that only I- Oh, you'll see. Spock," he said, turning to the Vulcan, "thanks for your help. It seems we'll have to delay our talk a bit. But I keep my promises. See you later."

"Until then, Doctor."

Kirk watched as the security officer helped the Doctor into the turbolift. As the door closed behind them, he turned his attention back to the other issues at hand. There was much to be done.

* * *

A/N: Updated with corrections.


	7. Diplomatic Talks: Missing

**Episode I: Diplomatic Talks**

 **Chapter 6: Missing**

Summary: In the aftermath of the battle, the Doctor goes missing.

* * *

"Mr. Williams, I'm telling you the _Enterprise_ did not fire, either on the Galinedorian ships or on the planet. General Valdorr lied to you."

" _Don't think you can avoid paying for this, Kirk, I saw the images! Even if it was just a mistake…_ "

"It was no mistake, it was a deliberate attack, but it wasn't us. There was a cloaked ship attacking both the _Enterprise_ and the Galinedorians. They must-"

" _Don't tell me now the Romulans are here, Kirk! I know astrography! They couldn't have come all the way around Federation territory without being detected, and certainly not on those slow ships of theirs._ "

"They weren't Romulans, Mr. Williams. We don't have a positive identification yet, but we have the wreckage, and we're examining it for clues." Kirk sighed. Mr. Williams was proving to be every bit as full of himself as certain other Federation envoys he'd had to work with in the past. It was incredible that such small-mindedness could be found among the ranks of the service responsible for developing relations with other cultures and civilizations. He was relieved that Ambassador Koenig was due to arrive in two days. She was a capable and respected diplomat with whom he had already worked in a few occasions. If anyone could untangle this mess and reach an agreement with the Galinedorians, it would be her.

" _I expect you'll keep me informed_." The man sounded less than convinced, but they both knew any further discussion would have to wait. " _Ms. Valdeter is ready to beam up with her team. They haven't resisted arrest by the rebels as you did, so they're mostly unharmed. But I still want them checked up by your doctor before they resume their work here._ "

"Noted. Kirk out." He could feel the exhaustion settling in his body as the adrenalin rush of the last hour finally faded. He tried massaging his neck. "Mr. Montero," he called to the lieutenant manning the security station, "please coordinate the beaming up of the survey team with the transport room. Mr. Spock, what's the status of the recovery?"

"Some of the largest pieces of wreckage have been beamed up to Cargo Bay Three, Captain. Mr. Scott's team is already working on them. Unfortunately, very few organic remains could be retrieved, and they were considerably degraded. I believe Doctor McCoy will have considerable difficulty getting results from them."

"So we have little to confirm the Doctor's - our guest's, that is - information about them being Omoran."

"We know little about the species that make up the Omora Confederacy, sir. Regardless of the condition of the remains, I suspect the best the good doctor could manage would be to exclude other possibilities, such as Romulans or Klingons."

"Then you believe our guest's tale that those were Wamarraki mercenaries."

Spock raised an eyebrow. "His story, however strange, is consistent and fits the facts. Besides, he has given me no reason to doubt his honesty."

"Yet, Mr. Spock." As his first officer stared at him, Kirk felt compelled to explain. "I'm not sure, but I believe there's a lot he's not saying. And I feel there's a lot more to him, too."

"You believe him to be lying."

"No, not really. I believe he's not telling the whole truth." He didn't add that he also feared the Doctor was dangerous. The longer he knew the man, the more uneasiness gathered in the back of his mind. There was a heaviness in his stomach, as if a storm were approaching and he could feel it in the wind.

"The Doctor has shown considerable expertise in a range of unusual subjects," said Spock, interrupting his captain's musings. "I am curious about how he managed to acquire it all."

"That's a good question." It also reminded him of his other questions about the man. "Spock, any idea how the Doctor managed to configure our scanners to defeat the cloaking system?"

"Not really, Captain. I have ascertained that he connected his device to the science console computer through the diagnostic interface. He used it to adjust the program settings for the scanners. But I still do not know how he managed to compute the frequency parameters. He did not use the ship's computer."

"If he didn't use our computer, how could he have done it? That 'sonic screwdriver' of his is too small for the task."

"Perhaps not. There are some compact computer systems that could fit into the device. But without knowledge of the relevant data and the algorithm to process them, I cannot reproduce the calculations."

"So we can't use the same solution on the next cloaked ship we find."

"I believe I said that, sir."

"Of course, Spock." He reclined in his chair, stretching his legs and trying for a better position. Maybe he needed to take a break and go to his quarters, rest a bit. No, what was he thinking? He must be really tired if he was considering lying down when there was still so much to be done.

"I look forward to hearing Doctor McCoy's [D1] impressions of our guest," Spock's voice interrupted again. "I believe they will be … illuminating."

"Good thinking, Mr. Spock." McCoy would have a very different perspective from theirs, and he knew he could trust the doctor's instincts. Kirk punched the comm switch. "Kirk to Doctor McCoy. Bones, please respond."

" _What is it, Jim? I'm busy here_."

"I was hoping to get the highlights from your examination of our guest. We need to talk to him as soon as you release him."

" _Then you'd better let me work. I won't get anywhere anytime soon if you call me every five minutes. I'll see him when he gets here_."

"Bones, I sent him your way more than fifteen minutes ago. He should already be there!"

" _Did you? Wait a moment_." He heard McCoy calling Nurse Chapel and asking where the newcomer was waiting. " _Jim, he hasn't arrived yet_."

"Are you certain?"

" _Of course I'm certain! Chapel hasn't seen him either. He hasn't come here._ "

"Kirk to security. Security alert, condition 2. Locate Mr. Rahdi. Locate and detain the Doctor."

"Mr. Rahdi is in turbolift three, now on Deck twenty-one," said Montero. "He isn't responding to the comm. I've dispatched officers to his position." He checked a few displays. "No one has seen the Doctor since he left the bridge, sir. We're starting a systematic search for him."

Kirk was restless, waiting for news. One man down. He hadn't taken the Doctor for a violent man. He wouldn't make the same mistake again.

The ship was on yellow alert, but shields were kept raised as a precaution against another cloaked ship. His officers were all busy. The aftermath of combat left a lot of work to be done before they could return to routine. Uhura was composing a report to Starfleet. Sulu and Chekov were mapping the Galinedorian vessels and satellites in orbit. Spock was busy with his station, probably reexamining what the Doctor did to it. Personally, he wanted to join the security teams and search for the exasperating man.

"Sir, Mr. Rahdi has been found. He's alive and unharmed," reported Montero.

"What happened? What did he say?"

"He doesn't remember, Captain. He has no idea what happened after he left the bridge. They're taking him to sickbay to be examined."

"Good, Montero. I want the Doctor found –"

"Captain." There was a subtle note of alarm in Spock's voice.

"What is it, Spock?"

"Transporter Room Two has been used to send someone to the planet's surface. It was down for maintenance, but it was nevertheless activated about ten minutes ago."

"How did he manage … No, don't bother. Let's go. Come with me, Spock. Mr. Montero, send a team to Transporter Room Two. Mr. Sulu, you have the bridge. Keep us in transporter range of the planet's surface."

"Aye, sir."

* * *

"Captain, it was unnecessary for you to come," said Spock as they hurried down the corridors.

"Nonsense. I want to confront him myself."

"Sir, if we have to follow him down to the planet's surface, you must stay behind. When Mr. Williams calls again, he'll want to speak to you."

Kirk sighed. "You're right."

They entered the secondary transporter room, joining the security team already there and the pair of technicians examining the console. Spock took over and soon had results. "I have been able to determine the approximate coordinates of the beam-down, Captain."

"Approximate, Spock?"

"The Doctor overrode the safety systems and set the coordinates directly, without using the targeting sensors. That's how –"

"He did what? But that's insanely dangerous!"

"Yes, a disaster would be almost inevitable in normal circumstances. But the transport was completed successfully, without detection by the bridge systems. I have the coordinates, compensating for the time differential and orbital drift, but there remains a margin of error of roughly one hundred meters."

"That's good enough. Spock, take the security team with you and bring the Doctor back. Alive."

"Yes, sir."

Kirk watched them beam down, before using the transporter's scope to check the destination. It was situated in a forested area, with a narrow creek through the middle, surrounded by farmland. He contacted the bridge and asked for a full scan of the region. It didn't take long before Spock called back.

" _Captain, no sign of the Doctor, or a ship, in the vicinity_."

"He may have already left the area. Try scanning for tracks."

" _We're doing so, sir. It will take some time_."

"Find him, Spock." It was pointless to wait in the transporter room, so he left the technicians to their job and returned to the bridge.

* * *

"Captain on the bridge!"

"At ease, gentlemen. Mr. Sulu, report."

"Galinedorian vessels are staying away. The planetary news networks have reported that the faction of the military that tried to start a revolution has surrendered. The rebels were against the negotiations with the Federation. The government deplores the attacks on us, and they say there'll be an investigation and trials."

"I'm sure there will be. Anything on the surface scans? Around our security team?"

"Nothing, sir. There are a handful of lifesigns, all Galinedorian, within twenty kilometers of their position. There's no sign of anything that could constitute a ship as small as a shuttle, even powered down, in the same area. In fact, we've scanned the whole northern continent, and if there's a warp-capable ship somewhere, it's well-hidden."

"Any sign of a cloaked vessel somewhere in orbit?"

"If there was one within ten million kilometers, we'd have already detected some trace of it, sir."

"Very well, continue scanning. As soon as the security team is back, I want you to climb to an orbit of three hundred thousand kilometers and stay there. I'll be in sickbay."

"Aye, sir."

* * *

As soon as he entered, he made a beeline for his CMO. The sickbay was nearly full, with injured crewmen occupying most biobeds, being examined and treated by the nurses and the doctors, McCoy and M'Benga.

"Bones, what happened to Rahdi?"

"Jim, you look like hell! Sit down here while I check you."

"No, I don't have time."

"Then make time! The chemical compounds in that gas you breathed during your escape must be affecting you."

"Let me guess, they make me tired?"

"And obsessive, and cranky. I've already administered the antidotes to the rest of your team. Now stay here and let me treat you." The doctor approached him with a hypospray and Kirk relented.

"Bones, I really need to know what happened with Mr. Rahdi."

"He's fine. Better than you, in fact. He apparently fell asleep in the turbolift." The doctor pointed to the man resting in another biobed and being examined by Doctor M'Benga.

"What?"

"That's it, he was found sleeping in the turbolift. No sign of anything that could have knocked him out. No gas or injection. His brain patterns when he arrived were relaxed, as if he'd been out for hours," McCoy explained as he fussed over his patient, checking his vitals.

"Maybe he was disabled by a Vulcan pinch."

"I've tested for that too, Jim," he replied defensively. "Even that leaves traces, and there were none."

"That's not possible. There must be something."

"Well, there are a number of ways he could have been knocked out, but if I have to guess it's probably one of a number of very rare compounds. I've heard of two or three which might have had that effect."

"You've heard?"

"Well, it's not as if they're in wide use. Starfleet Intelligence has funded some research on compounds that would be harmless and leave no trace, to be used during infiltrations. I've read some of the papers, they're interesting. There are possible medical applications that –"

"Wait. Are you saying the Doctor is a member of Starfleet Intelligence?"

"You're saying that, not me. I haven't met him yet. Now you stay here until the antidote has had time to do its work, then you can go to your quarters and rest. I'll give you a sedative –"

"I can't, Bones!"

"Either that, or I take you off duty for 24 hours. Your choice." Kirk knew it was pointless to argue. He really felt awful.

"At least ask Spock to come see me as soon as he comes aboard."

"I'll tell him. Now stay here, I have a lot of patients to treat."

Kirk must have dozed off because before he knew it, Spock was at his side.

"Are you feeling better, Captain?"

"Yes, I think so." He was surprised to realize that he was feeling much better. "Talk to McCoy. There's something about an antidote –"

"I was unaffected, Captain, so there is no need for an antidote."

"Yeah, I should have guessed that. So, anything?"

"I assume that you are referring to our missing guest. No, Captain, we haven't found him. I have found some tracks and other evidence, but I will need some time to examine them before making inferences."

"Did McCoy tell you that the Doctor may be from Starfleet Intelligence?" Spock raised an eyebrow, and Kirk recognized it as one of mild surprise. "Something about how he might've incapacitated Mr. Rahdi."

"I will ask him."

"Do so. I want you to investigate all leads, check everything he's done to this ship, and find out who exactly he is. I know you still have contacts in Starfleet Intelligence. Have them check him out."

"If he is Starfleet Intelligence, that would explain a great deal. However, I haven't heard anything about them having a counter against cloaking devices. I presume you don't think he is."

"I don't know what to believe. He might be SI, but I have a feeling the truth is more complicated than that. If he was, why didn't he simply identify himself so we'd know to trust him? It's not as if he tried for a low profile. Find out all you can about him, Spock."

He observed as his first officer left sickbay, then finally sat up. He'd go to his quarters and rest. He had to admit that this time, McCoy was right.

* * *

A/N: Updated with corrections.


	8. Diplomatic Talks: Epilogue

**Episode I: Diplomatic Talks**

 **Chapter 7: Epilogue**

Summary: Discoveries and conclusions.

* * *

Spock entered the captain's quarters. Kirk was sitting at his table, surrounded by datapads. He raised his head as the Vulcan entered, his face brightening.

"Spock! So good of you to come by! I think I'll die of boredom if I have to write one more report." The captain encouraged his officers to do all their work with enthusiasm, and he liked to lead by example. As a result, Spock secretly felt privileged that he was comfortable enough with him to complain about paperwork. Spock personally didn't mind writing reports, it would be illogical to do so. He understood their importance in the running of as large an organization as Starfleet. But ship captains had at least as many forms to write and review as first officers. Besides which, many humans seemed to have a deep aversion for "bureaucratic" work.

"You asked me to come, Captain."

"If you say so, but all I can think of at the moment are the figures for our upcoming resupply at Starbase 19." The USS _Exeter_ was due to arrive the following day, bringing Ambassador Veronica Koenig and relieving the _Enterprise_. Once it arrived, they would leave for Starbase 19 for much needed rest and resupply before proceeding to the next sector in their patrol route. But even such a routine stop required a lot of preparation.

"I fear that I am only bringing you more work, sir."

"Spock, just call me Jim. It's just the two of us here."

"If you prefer, Jim." Spock passed him his datapad. "I have the final engineering evaluation of the warship's wreckage, and the preliminary results of the investigation about the coup on Galinedoria Beta IV. Also included are my findings on Doctor John Smith."

"Ah yes, I asked you to investigate our missing guest. Five days, and still no sign of him anywhere," he remarked, glancing at the datapad.

"I could come back after you have had the opportunity to review the documents."

"No, Spock, please stay. I'd like to hear your executive summary. I can finish my reports later."

Spock raised an eyebrow but complied.

"Very well. Regarding the wreckage, the warship's destruction was very thorough. Mr. Scott estimates that scuttling charges were positioned at key locations about the ship to guarantee little of value could be recovered in case of destruction. Even so, his team was able to verify most of our prior hypotheses. We have recovered enough of the engineering section, as well as structural frames, hull, and armor, to confirm it was, originally, a hitherto unknown type of Klingon Bird of Prey. However, the weapons systems were identical to those in use by Starfleet, sans identification codes. Tracing the chemical signature of the components yielded mixed results: they had come from several different manufacturing plants."

"Looking for possible sources of military-grade equipment on the black market will surely give Starfleet a headache. Heck, I'd have never believed there could be a black market for Starfleet equipment before this. Not when Orion pirates, among others, are selling sophisticated weapons systems to suit all needs to whoever has the money to pay for them."

"Indeed. But it is also possible that at least some of the components were salvaged from Starfleet wrecks. I would recommend it as a possible avenue for further investigation by Starfleet Command."

"Very good, Spock. What else?"

"Examination of organic remains definitely excludes Klingons and Romulans, indicating instead a previously unknown species. With the possible exception of some metallic debris too small for positive identification, nothing was found to indicate the use of Romulan components. Mr. Scott's team has concluded that the ship was extensively modified by an unknown party to incorporate Federation weapons systems and a cloaking device, similar to that used by the Romulans."

Kirk sighed. "I had hoped for a more definitive answer on that cloaking device. Starfleet will be more than a little worried about it. Okay, what has Lieutenant Montero found out about the coup? Mr. Williams said something about the mercenaries being Parangans." Parangel, the Parangan homeworld, was the closest planet in the sector with warp capability, and they had been one of the neighbors helping the Galinedorians acquire the same.

"Since we sent Mr. Montero to serve as the interim Federation security liaison to the Galinedorian government requested by Mr. Williams, he's proven to be a gifted investigator, Captain - Jim," Spock corrected, as Kirk raised an eyebrow at him. "Indeed, that is what the Galinedorian government claims, but Montero disagrees. A number of witnesses recognized the off-worlders supporting the rebels as Parangans, but he found that a large number of the rebels and most of the off-worlders have simply disappeared."

"Disappeared, Spock?"

"Indeed. And those who were arrested – at least, those who were off-worlders – are already dead, their bodies incinerated in the explosion that killed most of the rebel leadership in the prison."

"Including General Valdorr. I see. Montero suspects they're covering their tracks, eliminating anyone whose testimony could've cast doubt on their story."

"There were two bodies which were not completely incinerated in the explosion, and the autopsy has confirmed that they were Parangans. However, Mr. Montero has been able to match them to the two missing Parangan trade liaisons, who were never near the rebel headquarters."

"I'm impressed. Still, with no positive proof…"

"He did manage to find two staff members who had had close contact with previous Parangan delegations, and they swore that those who came to aid the rebels were definitely not Parangans. Their behavior betrayed them, and even the language which they used among themselves sounded nothing like Paranghi."

"Good, that should be enough to start an official investigation by Starfleet. Where are they now?"

"Dead. An unfortunate 'accident'."

"Of course," the captain sighed. "So we have nothing. Nothing that would confirm a potential threat to the Federation, at any rate. The Parangans may not be Federation members, and Parangel may be building up their fleet and making aggressive noises, but they're not a credible threat."

"Not yet, Jim. They have been attempting to advertise themselves as an alternative to the Federation presence in this sector, so they would have an interest in keeping the Galinedorians away from the Federation. However, if there is someone else behind these events, it is possible the Parangans themselves are being manipulated. As I recall, they appeared more than willing to join the Federation when we first contacted them. They quickly and inexplicably assumed a hostile attitude towards the Federation some time after first contact."

"I wouldn't have pegged you as a conspiracy nut, Spock. What are you saying, whoever it is behind the Galinedorian rebels was already active, what, seven years ago?"

"Eight, but yes, that is what I am saying. There is someone else with an interest in this sector. We do have the evidence from the organic remains from the ship. I surmised that they might not have taken seriously the possibility of their ship being destroyed here, so I have asked Doctor McCoy to check them again. He was able to prove that they were not Parangans, either."

"That's a start. But the ship could have simply been hired by the rebels using their Parangan contacts. It's not enough. If it wasn't for the Doctor, it's possible we wouldn't even consider looking beyond the Parangan connection. If we can find him, he might give us more to go on. What did you find on him?"

"There is no mention of a Doctor John Smith in the records of Human independent explorers, at least not one matching his apparent age and physical characteristics. His face is not a match for any of the wanted suspects and criminals on Federation watch lists. It is not possible to access all the separate citizen registries for Human colonies from the _Enterprise_ , so I have forwarded a request to Starfleet security to look for his possible birthplace. However, I did find one record of his presence on a planet before here."

"Not a Federation planet, you mean."

"No. The Vulcan diplomat currently in charge of the Federation office in Parangel received a complaint from the authorities regarding a Doctor John Smith who was arrested on charges of espionage three weeks ago. She attempted to visit him, but the Parangans suddenly denied his existence. Understandably concerned, she sought her contacts among Parangan security forces. One of them finally confessed that the man had somehow disappeared without a trace, and they were too embarrassed to admit it."

"That does sound like them."

"She wasn't fully convinced he was still alive when I contacted her. But she had been shown a photo from his arrest, and she was able to identify him from our images of the Doctor."

"That's a start. The man certainly seems to look for trouble. Two arrests in a month."

"And two escapes, not counting his departure from the _Enterprise_."

"Right under our noses," Kirk grumbled. Spock understood that his captain hadn't forgiven the stranger for attacking his crewmember.

"Under hypnosis," he continued, "Mr. Rahdi was able to recall that Doctor Smith apologized just before he lost consciousness."

"Apologized?" He narrowed his eyes.

"He apparently said he was sorry. Mr. Rahdi is convinced he meant him no harm. Doctor McCoy hasn't been able to determine exactly what happened then, but Mr. Rahdi has not suffered any negative aftereffects. On the contrary, his insomnia hasn't returned, and he reports feeling more rested and less irritable than before the attack."

"I see."

Spock waited, but the captain didn't seem ready to share his thoughts yet. So he continued, "Whoever he is, Doctor Smith seems familiar with Starfleet systems. The diagnostics routine he used to interface with the science console temporarily disabled some of the security routines. I am convinced he adjusted the parameters to delay the reactivation of the transporter monitoring process, disguising it among many other unrelated programs affected by his actions. When I began resetting the systems, I did not consider the possibility of his activating the transporter without the use of the targeting scanners, which were not affected. If I had, I could have prevented his leaving the ship."

"Don't blame yourself, Spock. You didn't know he intended to leave."

"I suspected he would try, sir." Kirk frowned, looking at his first officer. "His words, before leaving the bridge, clearly indicated it."

"What did he say? It didn't catch my attention at the time."

"He reassured me that he would keep his promise to tell me all he could about himself later."

"He might've been lying, Spock."

"Perhaps, but it would be illogical to remind me of his promise at that moment, knowing as he did that it would alert me to a possible escape attempt. I presume he did it so we would expect to meet him again."

"I'll believe it when I see it. What I don't understand is why he wanted to leave. It's not as if we were going to arrest him. We just wanted to talk."

"He did violate our quarantine."

"That wouldn't be enough to land him in a cell. No, there's something else here. He knew too much about the situation, and that we might need his help. And we did. Without him, there would have been thousands, perhaps millions of Galinedorian casualties from that cloaked ship firing on the planet. Even his lecture, infuriating that he was, helped us focus. And then, with the crisis over, he faked that injury and left."

"His pain was real, Jim. His self-control was remarkable for a human, but I recognized the signals. He was in pain the entire time, but he kept it hidden so we would allow him to remain on the bridge." He noticed Kirk's look of disapproval and amended, "I respected his self-control and his decision to defer medical attention in order to assist us."

"Hmm, you would. I guess you were right. Even so, I'd rather be informed about these situations."

"Please forgive me, Captain. Jim. It won't –"

"I trust your judgment, Spock," Kirk interrupted. "Just tell me, when you can."

"Of course." He didn't add the word 'captain', but Kirk frowned at him and sighed anyway. "It is possible he had some secrets he was not ready to share. If he is working with or for Starfleet Intelligence, it could jeopardize his cover."

"Perhaps. Let's hope that's all it was. No sign of his ship yet?"

"No. Either he is still hiding on the planet, or he managed to leave without being detected, perhaps during one of the recent solar flares." No matter how good they were, the _Enterprise_ was just one ship. They couldn't watch it all.

"What else did you find? Anything on how he managed to adjust our sensors to defeat that ship's cloak?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. During the battle, when I realized what the Doctor was attempting to do, I activated the recording of raw sensor data at maximum resolution. I haven't completed my analysis yet, but reviewing the data collected by the sensors has allowed me to conclude there was a second cloaked vessel present in orbit of the planet."

"Another ship? But we didn't see anything, either on the motion detectors or the modified sensor array."

"Indeed. In our earlier encounter with the Romulan raider, our motion sensors showed themselves capable of detecting the movement of cloaked vessels from a distance against the subspace background and plotting their approximate location. But they are not effective when the opponent is too close, as the Bird of Prey was. Regardless, in spite of the distortion from the nearby planet, we should have been able to detect the presence of other cloaked vessels in the vicinity, but neither Mr. Chekov nor I noticed anything. Later, however, when I reviewed the subspace sensor data, there were subtle indications of the presence of another ship in orbit, a ship which managed to completely elude our sensors."

"Something made you suspect that there could have been a second ship."

"Yes. The sudden disappearances of a large number of off-worlders and rebels once the plot was defeated suggested they were transported to a ship in orbit, and I decided to find out whether it existed. The trace evidence indicates that the cloaked ship was able to disguise its presence from our motion detectors enough that our recognition protocols would overlook it. I have concluded that the ship was equipped with a cloaking system more advanced than that of the Romulans, though it was not yet fully calibrated to completely mask its subspace trail. Possibly a prototype."

"A more advanced cloaking system. The news gets better and better," complained Kirk.

"The evidence from the motion detectors suggests that the ship stayed in orbit for some five hours after the battle, long enough to beam up all the missing rebels. Then it left the system at high warp when we were on the other side of the planet."

"That blip we detected. We assumed it was a passing ship that only came so close to the planet because of a reckless pilot."

"Yes. The trails from the motion detectors wouldn't be enough, by themselves, to confirm the presence of a second cloaked vessel. However, when I analyzed the modifications the Doctor made to our sensor array, I realized that they might confirm the existence of the second ship. He had adjusted the sensors to focus on our immediate vicinity, but once I reprocessed the data allowing for objects at greater distances, the sensors clearly showed the presence of the second ship, parked in a stationary orbit above the northern continent."

"You mean you've been able to replicate whatever it was he did to our sensors? But that's great!"

"Not particularly, Jim. The signal disappeared after thirty minutes, even though the motion data indicates the ship hadn't moved from its relative position."

"But how? That is, how did it work originally, and why did it suddenly stop working?"

"I have found that the protocols the Doctor introduced work by searching for patterns of electromagnetic energy at a number of very specific frequencies. It seems the cloaking system works in part by deflecting photons around the ship."

"Yes, I know a little about cloaking theory." Probably more than a little, Spock thought. But he himself was still working on the details of his theory, and he couldn't assume the captain understood it all.

"The cloak cover is necessarily imperfect, and the flaws allow a small amount of photons, at specific vectors and frequencies, to escape, rendering the vessel detectable to someone who knows what to look for. The cloaking system was probably adjusted to overlay the deflection fields in the best arrangement possible to minimize the number of escaped photons. I believe it would be extremely difficult to derive their pattern from pure observation. In fact, I have ascertained that the Doctor brought the pattern with him and uploaded it as soon as his device interfaced with our systems. The work he did afterwards was to adjust our scanners and recognition protocols to take advantage of it."

"I see. Starfleet would be extremely interested to ask him where he learned about this cloaking pattern."

"In any case, it is useless now. The other vessel must have inferred that we were able to defeat their cloak, as well as how we did it. I suspect they modified their cloaking system to switch between a number of configurations that, while suboptimal, would still be good enough to prevent detection and avoid presenting a single pattern of escaped photons. Theirs is probably a very good engineering team, able to complete the modifications in less than half an hour. However, once modified, their cloaking system will no longer be easy to pierce."

Spock saw the hope that had brightened his captain's eyes disappear as he absorbed what had just been said. No matter how many tactical maneuvers they rehearsed, they both knew how much advantage such a cloaking system gave to an adversary.

"Well, that settles it," the captain chuckled. "The Doctor cannot be Starfleet Intelligence."

"Why not, Jim?"

"I have yet to see an intelligence operative who would willingly give up any kind of secret. For this one, I'm certain they'd let the whole planet burn rather than allow someone to suspect they might have it. I'm not sure I'd give it up myself. It's the kind of trump card that can only be used once."

"I agree. But that raises the question of who this Doctor Smith is, who would sacrifice such a valuable secret in order to save the lives of complete strangers."

"A good man." The captain turned and said, "I really hope you're right and we'll meet him again, because I want to thank him for that. We owe him."

* * *

A/N: This completes the first episode. My heartfelt thanks to you all who have followed the story up to this point. If you've enjoyed it, please take some time now to review and tell me what's working, and what's not.

Very special thanks for my beta, Ersatz Einstein, who's helping me turn my drafts into a readable form. Any errors that remain are solely my fault.

This is followed by two interludes, from the points of view of the Doctor and Spock, respectively. Next episode, _Investigation_ , will be posted from February 2016 onwards. The whole story will have between 8 and 10 episodes.

Updated with corrections.


	9. Interlude: The Doctor remembers

**Interlude - The Doctor remembers**

A/N: As a rule, we won't follow the Doctor's perspective in this series. This is one of the exceptions.

* * *

 **The Doctor remembers**

The humanlike alien known as the Doctor closed the door behind him and slumped against it, barely holding himself up. It had been two very long local days since his arrival, but he was finally home. His ship hummed around him, she was glad to have him back. He stood with difficulty and stumbled to the console, launching her into the Vortex. Now he'd finally be able to rest and think.

Once his ship stabilized into a holding pattern in the Vortex, he walked carefully to the medbay and lay down on the automated biobed. It was certainly a welcome addition to the TARDIS. The few companions he'd allowed to come with him lately had often needed to use it. His life was dangerous. A couple of times, the biobed had saved their lives. It had been a number of years since he himself had last had occasion to use it, but it was easier, quicker, and more reliable than patching himself up or resorting to a healing trance. Ever since his last regeneration, he'd taken advantage of every opportunity to fix or improve his ship's systems, and she was now in better condition than she'd been at any other time in his long life. She was his best, most faithful companion, but still, he sometimes missed having someone else to talk to. But it was better this way. He shuddered to think what would have happened, what he might have been forced to do, if he had arrived on this last planet with a companion. No, he wasn't going to allow others to sacrifice their lives for him again.

As the biobed started its diagnostic and pre-treatment routine, adjusted for his biology, he recalled the recent events. He'd noticed he was being followed almost immediately after arriving on the planet. His ship'd brought him to the wrong place again, though he was certain he'd fixed the navigation circuits this time. Once there, however, he couldn't resist looking around. The strange humanoid natives weren't exactly hostile, but they were reserved and wary of strangers. A bit more than what would've been normal if it was just their way, so he was quickly suspicious there was something untoward happening. Not that that was unusual for him. He eventually found out about the off-worlders, and then he was apprehended. Again, nothing unusual for him. What was unusual was that they weren't interested in talking. They just beat him up and threw him into that dark hole of a cell.

It was who he found there that disturbed him most. Starfleet officers, from the so-called United Federation of Planets. An interstellar, multi-species body which owed its creation and present form to the humans who comprised its heart. He liked humans, they were his favorite species. But he'd never liked spending too much time mixed up with Federation personnel. There was something about them that made him feel uneasy. Not that that had ever stopped him coming here. It almost seemed that his ship shared his fascination about these people, if he considered the number of times she had brought him to this part of the galaxy.

Most others of his kind wouldn't even consider the possibility of visiting this galaxy. The High Council had declared it off-limits a long time ago. He was the last one to be sent here with any sort of official exemption, in his third life. Regardless, he'd been coming here all his life. It was a safe place where he could hide from his own people. It also had many interesting species and civilizations, and he'd already met many of them. He'd made many friends, even if he had to keep his true identity and origins secret from them. He'd made many enemies as well. Surely many of these stops were due to occasional faults in the navigation system of his ship, but he almost always enjoyed them. Except in this last incarnation.

There was something he had forgotten. A few somethings. He was certain he'd already met the captain of the Federation starship and his Vulcan first officer, but he couldn't remember the circumstances. Nevertheless, he'd initially thought this would be yet another one-off encounter, until the Wamarraki's presence, plus the many little details he observed and collected, began painting a grim picture of the situation. Something bigger was at stake. Whoever it was behind the Galinedorian incident, the Federation was probably about to face an opponent way beyond their league.

If he was right in his suspicions about what was really happening, he'd have to get involved. At least that Starfleet crew were interesting people. He was sorry he'd been forced to put the young Rahdi Ederit to sleep, but he had to get out of their ship before his body failed him completely. The three hours he'd rested in the cell had barely been enough to stand and walk unassisted, and to fake his recovery for the time he needed to help them deal with the cloaked raider. But he couldn't let them examine him, and he wouldn't be able to answer their questions. Not yet.

That Vulcan first officer, Spock. A fascinating individual. He seemed to be both extremely curious and perceptive, even more than what he would have expected from a Vulcan. He believed he'd managed to get through to him. He had enough experience with Vulcans to understand them and make himself understood. The captain, though, was another story. He could tell that the human felt an instinctive distrust, even fear, towards him, although he acted perfectly accepting. He couldn't blame him. Captain Kirk was clearly an outstanding, intuitive officer with very good instincts, and a professional willingness to reserve judgment until he had better information. He would have to be careful to avoid getting on his bad side.

The biobed tinkled, interrupting his thoughts, and he spent some time reviewing the diagnostic and adjusting the recommended treatment parameters through the telepathic interface. It would begin by treating the most severe injuries to his internal organs. Then it'd proceed to fix his ribs, four of which were fractured. Those guards had been angry, mistaking him for a Federation spy. It was quite possible he would've been fatally injured if that Parangan hadn't appeared when he did. Not a Parangan, no. A Zarren, surgically altered to resemble a Parangan. He had recognized him by the language he used to contact his commander. By then he was already faking unconsciousness, but that hadn't stopped the guards. The order barked by the Zarren, however, did. The Doctor had also recognized the callsign he used in his report, but it took him a while to remember what it was. It was Wamarraki. The Zarren, as one of the major and the most aggressive species in the Omora Confederacy, made up the majority of the Wamarraki. What they were doing this far out was another question.

He'd told the captain he recognized the Wamarraki from their badges. A lie. He could barely see their silhouettes at that point. But he couldn't admit to knowing their language, as that would only raise questions he wasn't prepared to answer yet. He'd have to be careful, he shouldn't lie to them. Oh, he lied a lot, especially when he wasn't likely to be caught. But those officers were smarter than most, and they were already wary of him. He needed them to trust him the next time they met.

These Starfleet officers hadn't known him yet, so, from the beginning, he'd acted as he often would, trying to impress them and gain their trust. It had been surprisingly hard. He'd had to promise the Vulcan he'd explain himself later. He still intended to make good his promise, but he now suspected it might take a while. Meanwhile, he'd better let them believe he was just a human citizen of the Federation. He'd tried to make sure that everything he did to help them was explainable in terms of their technology and capabilities, but he hadn't been entirely successful.

He was lucky no one thought to ask about his 'non-standard' modifications to the communicator, made to defeat the scattering field so the transporter could lock on to them. But he'd been forced to do many alterations to the diagnostics and security routines of the _Enterprise_ 's computer in order to conceal his escape, and these, together with his dangerous override of the transporter safety measures, would probably raise suspicions. Worst of all was the information on the cloaking pattern, which had been the key to tracking and defeating the cloaked Wamarraki raider. Not even he knew where that had come from. It'd appeared apparently from nowhere in his sonic screwdriver. Something else he'd have to worry about.

A whirring noise, and the biobed arm was over his head, working to reduce his concussion. It was almost done. He'd have to sleep and rest to complete his recovery. That was a good opportunity to enter a trance. He needed to recover all the memories of his previous contacts with Federation personnel. He'd already met many in various occasions, he was sure of that, but almost all of those memories had been supressed. He'd probably had good reasons for that, but now he needed them all.

That Starfleet crew was one of the best. They'd acted quickly and professionally, and they had a good sense of priorities. It wouldn't have been enough to avoid the trap, however. Probably. Their captain was unusual. He'd only met another human like him once. If he was at all like that other one, it was no wonder the TARDIS had brought him here. This one would make things unpredictable. It was refreshing, exciting. The Doctor would very much like to know him better. That is, if the human allowed it.

He felt the biobed's hum change tone. It was trying to induce sleep. He let himself slip into his memory-recovery trance.

After a considerable amount of time, irrelevant really with the TARDIS floating in the Vortex, the Doctor opened his eyes and sat up on the biobed. He was fully healed, and more importantly, he'd recovered the memories he needed. He frowned. He couldn't be fully certain yet, but things were probably even worse than he had thought. Much worse. The circumstances would also make it extremely dangerous for him. There was too much at stake, and his involvement would complicate things even more. He'd have to proceed carefully, and avoid revealing too much, too soon. He'd also have to stick to the sidelines this time. At most, he could make sure the captain and crew of the _Enterprise_ would be present where and when they'd be needed and trust them with doing their jobs. He had a feeling that, if anyone could, they'd be able to defeat their opponents all by themselves. Not that that would have been enough to save them in the end.

He shook his head. He didn't like the path he'd have to take. He had a choice, he could still leave. Fat chance. He was the Doctor. His decision was made, and he was part of the events now. Besides, he had at least some advantages on his side. But there was a lot he had to learn before he could proceed. Starting with the warship the Wamarraki had acquired. And he knew exactly where he should begin his investigation. He'd have to check what the Parangans knew.


	10. Interlude: Spock gets a lead

**Interlude: Spock gets a lead**

Summary: Spock finds out the Doctor's interested in some academic papers.

OBS: I've finished posting the corrections for the first episode.

* * *

 _Stardate 2479.1 - Aboard the Enterprise_

Spock reviewed his notes. His requests for information regarding an individual known as Doctor John Smith had been met with indifference by the Starfleet departments he had contacted. There were either too many people by that name, or too few fitting his profile, none matching all the required parameters. Besides the Parangan incident, which happened before the _Enterprise_ arrived at Galinedoria Beta IV, he had found no other information pertaining to the identity or whereabouts of this 'Doctor' in Federation records.

What made him more curious was that the news of the discovery of the cloaking pattern had failed to arouse more than fleeting interest from Starfleet. After the initial excitement, even the technical and research departments had lost interest, deciding that the pattern discovery was a fluke, unlikely to be repeated or of further use. Most were doubtful of his findings about the existence of the second cloaked ship, or how it managed to avoid detection. They had eventually concluded that the attacker had been a lone Klingon mercenary, of whom there were unfortunately quite a few, using a possibly stolen cloak of unknown origin, under hire by a Parangan faction supporting the Galinedorian rebels.

Even Starfleet Intelligence had shown no interest in pursuing the issue further. They would be interested in interrogating the Doctor if he ever showed up again, but they thought it wasn't worth the effort to go after a rogue explorer who could be very hard to find and probably had little useful information to give. The suggestion that Doctor John Smith might have been a SI operative was met with bemusement, and they showed no interest in the possibility that he might have been employed by an adversary. The only reason Spock could imagine that would explain the indifference from the normally paranoid organization was that they were already overworked with some ongoing top-secret intelligence operation. That, or they were trying to deflect any suggestion that the Doctor was really under SI employ.

All Spock had managed to get from Starfleet was a warrant for the Doctor's detention if he was ever identified within Federation territory. He was wanted for questioning for trespassing the blockade, assaulting a crewmember, and leaving the _Enterprise_ before the investigation on the circumstances of the Galinedorian incident was complete. But the low priority assigned to the warrant made it almost certain that it would be easy for him to avoid capture, especially given his proven resourcefulness.

Since the Galinedorian incident, four months earlier, the _Enterprise_ had been through a number of scrapes, and almost everyone had forgotten their encounter with the Doctor. Except Spock, of course. His continued usage of Federation channels for further inquiries had resulted in complaints. He hadn't been outright ordered by Starfleet Command to drop his investigation, but there had been strong suggestions that the matter was not worth his time or Federation resources. The captain had backed him, but even Kirk was eventually forced to suggest he drop the issue, at least officially, and conduct any further investigation through private channels.

Ironically, it was as a result of resorting to alternate sources of information that he had his first real clue to the Doctor's whereabouts after he left the _Enterprise_. There'd been a brief incident on Alander Prime, around one month after they left Galinedoria, where a person identifying himself as 'Doctor John Smith' had requested copies of a number of medical research papers in the university, disappearing before retrieving them. It had only been reported because one of the authors of the requested papers, a Professor Jovan Ka'h, was murdered in the same city on the following day. There were enough Doctors named John Smith that Spock wasn't particularly intrigued by the coincidence, especially because the Doctor who'd appeared in the _Enterprise_ not only didn't seem to be the academic type but also had seemingly nothing to do with medicine. But with no real evidence, he had to follow any possible lead. He'd decided to contact an old acquaintance, an assistant astrophysics professor who taught in the university, asking for further information related to the incident. And he finally got a positive response.

He examined the copy of the report made by the university's security on their visitor. The images were not high quality, but Spock could recognize the Doctor by a brief shot of his face and by his clothing, which was, surprisingly enough, the same that he had worn while on Galinedoria. Satisfied that this was the man he was looking for, he considered how he'd gotten there. It would have been possible, though just barely, for the Doctor to travel the distance between Galinedoria and Alander Prime in a normal civilian shuttle in the time separating the two incidents. He would have to make an official inquiry about the shuttles that arrived on Alander Prime in the days before the crime and left soon afterwards. He hoped just one inquiry would not attract undue attention, since there was no need to mention Doctor John Smith's name.

Spock went over the report looking for any possible clues regarding the Doctor's intentions. Apparently meeting him was remarkable enough for the library assistant to clearly remember him, asserting her confusion with the visitor's excitable behavior and strange requests. He turned to watch for the second time the video where the murder investigators interrogated the librarian. 'You see, he's certainly not the murderer! He asked about Professor Ka'h, hoping he could meet him, yeah, but that's only because I asked him if they had worked together before, the way he talked about the Professor's research! We talked about a million things. Well, it was mostly him talking, really... He seemed so enthusiastic about everything!' If Spock hadn't recognized John Smith from the image, he'd be doubtful the man described by the girl was the same man he had met in Galinedoria.

He considered the possibility that the Doctor had purposely attracted attention to himself, but for what possible reason? Without the murder on the following day, the records of his visit would have been erased after the prescribed fifty days. But the investigators soon learned about the stranger asking for the murdered man in the university, and collected what they could about him. However, the weapon was never found, and there was no evidence connecting the Doctor to the man's death. The crime was eventually attributed to a wild shot fired during a heated discussion in a bar, which hit the professor passing nearby. Spock considered it was unlikely that the Doctor's visit had anything to do with the murder. Instead, the news could instead have convinced him to change his plans, so he left before he could collect the papers.

Spock reviewed the list of papers the Doctor had requested. Research articles and panel reports in microbiology, immunology and genetics. Most were retrieved immediately, but a few, exactly the ones to which the murdered professor had contributed, were not available to the general public. They referred to ongoing research, so the Doctor had had to fill in a form explaining his interest in them. But Spock couldn't understand it due to his lack of knowledge in human medicine. However, he suspected it was, at least in part, meaningless babble, designed to impress less than knowledgeable readers.

He decided to obtain copies of the papers himself and ask for Doctor McCoy's opinion on them and the Doctor's declarations on the request form. After all, the subjects fell within his purview. Perhaps the good doctor would be able to help Spock understand what Doctor John Smith was looking for. Meanwhile, it was possible that he'd visited other universities looking for similar information. Spock began to recall all his acquaintances currently engaged at universities and research institutes, whether in Federation territory or on nearby systems. He took some time to elaborate his messages carefully, framing his interest in finding the man as being purely academic, and sent them. If he could figure out what the Doctor was searching for, maybe they could eventually catch up with him.

* * *

A/N: I thank you all, who have favorited and are following this story. I hope you'll continue to enjoy it! Now that the overall plot is beginning to take shape, I invite you to review and tell me what you think about it, ask questions, and correct me if I made any mistake. Your reviews will help me write more and better!

My heartfelt thanks to my beta, Ersatz Einstein, who has been painstakingly reviewing my drafts. Without him, reading this story would be much more painful.

The first chapter of the second episode, _Investigation_ , should follow soon. It'll be shorter than the first. I've finally realized that I won't be able to maintain the previous pace this year, so starting in March I'll post one chapter every other week, probably on Tuesdays. There'll probably be a slightly longer interval between episodes.


	11. Investigation: Detour

**Episode II: Investigation**

 **Chapter 1: Detour**

Summary: Spock receives a surprising message.

* * *

 _First Officer's log, Stardate 2687.8. The Enterprise has been diverted from its mission to study the Faren-Ortean planetary nebula in order to assist the Ton Selat mining colony, where the main power plant has exploded, killing or injuring a third of the population. The search and rescue operations are all but finished, and Mr. Scott reports that the new power plant is already up and running, with final tests of the automated control system scheduled to be completed in the next five hours. Captain Kirk is also planetside, coordinating the handover of the relief effort to Commodore Palidor, who arrived yesterday with the relief convoy from Starbase 25. As soon as they are aboard, the Enterprise will be ready to leave orbit. Meanwhile, I have received some surprising news regarding the mysterious Doctor John Smith._

Spock was sitting at the desk in his quarters, reading the message for the third time. He'd met T'Val three times before, in Vulcan, though the very respected but strict researcher had never shown anything but complete indifference towards her younger colleague's work, even after he'd published his first results lending support to her hypothesis on the resonance characteristics of Lh'th'kvar subspace waves. Nonetheless, he'd included her in the list of acquaintances to whom he'd forwarded his request for information on the Doctor. She was currently heading a team at the Zikran 27 research outpost in the neighboring sector, and as they were one of the parties interested in the data the _Enterprise_ was collecting on the nebula, she knew where to find him. However, normal communications had been disrupted by the subspace disturbances that plagued this area of space, the same disturbances her team had been studying. It was only with the arrival of the relief convoy that the missives had finally reached him, along with all the other low-priority communications that had previously failed to be delivered to the _Enterprise_.

If her contacting him was unexpected, the content of her messages had left him disconcerted. The Doctor had taken the time to stop at Zikran 27 just to talk to her. Spock hadn't anticipated he'd be interested, or knowledgeable, in subspace field theory. But apparently he'd wanted to discuss the possibility of applying some of her research to the detection of cloaked vessels in deep space. She sounded dismissive of the idea, but she was positively animated about the experience. Quite peculiar. "A remarkable man," that was what T'Val had to say about the Doctor. They'd talked at length about her experiments, and she implied that not only he'd seemed interested in her work, he knew enough about it to impress her and even suggest a couple of novel approaches. Their conversation had then derived to other topics, and when the Doctor mentioned knowing Spock, she'd used the opportunity to try to obtain more information.

She dryly commented that she'd immediately remembered Spock's request upon first meeting the Doctor, but since her fellow Vulcan had neglected to mention the reason for his interest in the man, she'd inferred he intended to meet him again in person. So she'd found out that the Doctor was bound to stop next at the Ackathar colony, home for a small Federation academic institution, though he'd managed to avoid revealing anything else about his plans. Unfortunately, Spock wouldn't have been able to reach the Doctor there, even if her warning had reached him in time. Fortunately, T'Val was curious and interested enough to use her own contacts to confirm the Doctor's arrival and movements in Ackathar. She'd forwarded him the details, along with a request that Spock stop by Zikran 27 whenever convenient.

Spock straightened in the chair and tried to think. Too many questions were crossing his mind, and it took him some effort to reorder his thoughts. The priority was finding out where the Doctor could be going next. His presence in these outlying sectors of Federation space, so far away from where they first met him in Galinedoria Beta IV, was unexpected. But, for some reason, he was still stopping at academic and research institutions along the way. Therefore it remained the most promising approach to finding the mysterious man.

He called up the tridimensional model of Federation space he'd been working on for the last two months. All known academic and research institutions within this region of the galaxy were represented as bright silver spots in the holographic display. A number of them were marked with colored circles, denoting suspected or confirmed visits by the Doctor. Two deep blue circles marked Alander Prime and Geren III, on one side of Federation space, which he'd been able to confirm were the first two places the Doctor visited after Galinedoria. A third light blue circle marked Elender Station, which was almost halfway around, and the only other place where he'd previously had enough evidence to suspect the Doctor's presence with high probability. However, the distance between Geren III and Elender Station was very large, and there was a number of light green, yellow and orange-colored circles, scattered around the region, where a possible presence by Doctor John Smith had been reported, with estimated probabilities ranging from seventy to thirty percent. The scattered reports had previously prevented the route calculator from successfully deriving a trajectory that could explain the Doctor's movements with higher than fifty percent probability. Spock expected this'd now finally change.

The last communications package had also included some new information regarding a number of the previously reported Doctor visits, so he focused first on the three light green circles. One of the events, whose date had previously been uncertain, was now confirmed to have occurred around Stardate 2110, so even if the Doctor had been there, it'd happened before Galinedoria, so it was irrelevant to the current investigation. In the second event, the person involved, though also named as a 'Doctor John Smith', had been a shorter individual, with different facial characteristics, so he couldn't be the same man. Spock excluded both events from his map. The last report had just confirmed that one of the light orange events referred to an individual with the same physical characteristics of the Doctor, who had also asked for advanced papers in virology and epidemiology. Spock changed its probability accordingly, and its color switched to light blue. Since it happened at the same date as the third light green visit, he downgraded this one to a very low probability and it disappeared from the display.

Spock now looked for the spots corresponding to Zikran 27 and Ackathar and entered the dates the Doctor had been present there. They were updated with deep blue circles. There were now six blue circles, which along with a couple other yellow and orange events seemed to delineate a more of less direct route from the Galinedorian sector of space towards the area where the _Enterprise_ was currently assigned to. He activated the route calculator algorithm. It quickly came up with a result, indicating with 93.20% likelihood a trajectory with Warp 5.3 maximum speed stopping by all eight spots at the recorded dates. If only the six blue events were considered, the necessary maximum speed fell to Warp 4.2, with likelihood 79.15%. Even so, there weren't many ships capable of such speeds and range, especially not privately-owned ones. But it was a very good fit for the available evidence. He finally activated the predictor algorithm. The highest likelihood trajectory extended into the _Enterprise_ 's current sector, with probability 97.76%. There were two spots present in the area, either of which could in principle be the Doctor's next destination. He might need more information to decide between the two.

Since that last report had made it three times when the Doctor'd asked for biology and medicine papers in a library, Spock set a filter, changing to a golden hue all the spots corresponding to facilities with active research programs in either of these two fields. Five of the eight spots along the route were now shining gold, except for Geren III and the last two ones. However, Geren III was home to one of the co-authors of a number of the immunology papers the Doctor seemed to be interested in, and that might be enough to explain his presence at the planet. It was exactly what'd happened in Ackathar. The Doctor had looked for one of the main authors of one of the epidemiology papers who had moved to that colony with his family and was starting a new college there. The Doctor's stop at Zikran 27 might seem odd in comparison, but it could easily be explained by his interest in defeating cloaking devices.

Spock turned his attention to the two next spots, one silver and one golden, and called up the information on the silver-hued one. Gabala VI was a Starfleet outpost, and the Doctor could arrive there in the next day or so. He cross-referenced its resident researchers with the list of paper authors. There was a renowned virologist who'd relocated with his wife when her research group moved there, so it was a distinct possibility. However it was also a military outpost, so the Doctor would risk capture by going there. The golden spot was New Sapienza, a large independent university who was famous for their reticence towards Starfleet. It was slightly closer to Ackathar, so the Doctor might already be there. There wasn't much time if they wanted to catch up with the Doctor.

* * *

Spock stepped into the bridge. The captain had arrived only a few minutes before, but the sooner the Vulcan managed to convince him to go after the Doctor the greater their chance of getting there in time. He approached the central chair, where Kirk was reviewing the many reports his yeoman had handed him.

"Captain, if you have a moment, there's something I need to discuss." Kirk raised his head. Spock knew that coordinating the rescue parties was extraordinarily demanding, but the captain seemed even more tired than he had expected.

"Can't it wait, Spock? Soon we'll be underway, and there'll be time enough for that."

"It regards our next destination, Captain. I would recommend that we delay the resumption of our study of the nebula so we can visit the University of New Sapienza and the Starfleet research outpost in Gabala VI."

"I thought you were anxious to go back to Faren-Ortean."

"It is fascinating, but the planetary nebula can wait." Spock noticed that Doctor McCoy had just arrived on the bridge. Stiffening, he continued, "I have evidence that the Doctor is probably in this sector, and we may have the chance to apprehend him." The ship's doctor silently descended the ramp towards the captain's chair, head tilted to the side. It was obvious that he was listening to their conversation.

"Are you certain? No, I don't want to see the evidence," the captain said, pushing away the proffered datapad. "I trust your analysis. But we can't simply divert the Starfleet flagship to go hunting for one man, even if he's a fugitive. We've already lost most of the time allotted for our study of the nebula, and our results are very important to the Starfleet astrophysics department. You've said as much yourself."

"Yes, Captain, but we could at least stop at New Sapienza. We would still have time to complete the study as scheduled. In any case, we've already collected most of the data from the nebula, and my analysis indicates that only a small subset of the remaining data points would be enough to complete the study."

"New Sapienza or Gabala VI?" The captain narrowed his eyes and studied his Vulcan officer and friend. "Gabala VI is closer to our route. We'd lose less time if we diverted there."

"Hang on," McCoy cut in, surprising the others, "I'd say New Sapienza is much more interesting than Gabala. I never understood why they chose that desolate rock to build a research station." Kirk turned to look at him.

"Do you also want to meet the Doctor, Bones?" he chuckled, while Spock watched warily.

"Well, Jim, I'll admit I'm curious about the man. But more importantly, Professor Finch is currently heading a research team in New Sapienza, and there's a paper I'd like to discuss with him."

"Is it that paper about the non-coding viral genome, Doctor McCoy?" Spock asked.

"Yes, exactly. All the papers you gave me were very interesting. You said they were the ones this Doctor of yours had asked for, right?"

"Indeed. Do you have any idea what his interest in them would be, Doctor?" asked Spock, as Kirk looked between them, amused.

"Not really, some of them are ludicrous. And I have no idea what they'd all have in common. But one of them-"

"Gentlemen," Kirk interrupted, "am I to believe you're both here to suggest we go after Doctor John Smith?"

"Uh, if he's also in New Sapienza, yes, I'd very much like the opportunity to meet this Doctor," McCoy put in. "The paper he asked for from Professor Finch raises a few points that made me remember that strange flu we caught some six months ago."

"When we left Galinedoria, Doctor?" asked Spock.

"Yes, now that you mention it, it was just after we left the planet. It was so contagious that at least a third of the crew was infected before I knew it was aboard. It may have been something you brought from the planet that somehow passed by the transporter's biofilters undetected. Luckily it was mild enough that-"

"Enough, Bones. I'm sorry, but your wish to talk to Professor Finch isn't enough to divert the _Enterprise_. However, if Spock can determine whether Doctor John Smith is on Gabala VI or New Sapienza, I'll consider going after him. You have three hours, until Mr. Scott is scheduled to return from the surface. Otherwise, we'll go directly to Faren-Ortean. Now, I'm going to head to my room and finish reviewing these reports in peace, so you can continue talking on the bridge." He stood to leave. "Spock, since you're already here, the bridge is yours."

"My apologies for bothering you, Captain."

"No problem, Mr. Spock. I'm looking forward to some quiet time. Bones, if you have an analgesic, I'd really like some. I have a headache."

"I believe I can arrange that, Jim." The two of them entered the turbolift, leaving Spock on the bridge.

* * *

Spock tried contacting both planets, but all he could determine was that the Doctor hadn't appeared in Gabala VI, at least not yet. However, Spock had no close contacts in New Sapienza, and those acquaintances he'd managed to reach in that short time had yet to return with an answer. There wasn't much else he could try, so, with the three hours almost up, he risked contacting New Sapienza space control to see if he could learn anything.

He got lucky. The junior controller that answered his call didn't ask whether he was Starfleet, so Spock didn't mention it, and when asked if any ship carrying a John Smith had recently arrived, the controller mentioned one that'd come in the day before. Therefore, when the captain finally returned to the bridge, Spock was able to say with reasonable certainty that the Doctor was probably on New Sapienza, and they were underway. It would be twenty-six hours before the _Enterprise_ arrived on the planet, and he'd have that long to confirm the Doctor's presence. He only hoped their quarry wouldn't leave before they arrived.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm really sorry for the delay in posting this. It took me a while to get it to the point where I was reasonably satisfied with Spock's reasoning. I've also been stricken by a serious bout of writer's block, and Real Life hasn't been helping matters. But I hope I've now solved - a month late! - most of the problems. As I said before, this and the next two episodes have already been plotted, and all that remains is putting the words on the page. In order to limit my stress levels, from now on I'm commiting to post one chapter every other week.

I'd like to send copious thanks to all of you who've read, followed and favorited this story. It helps me write when I know there's someone out there enjoying it as well. It'll help even more if you tell me something about what you felt is okay, or not okay, about this story. Or ask questions. Really, I'd very much like to hear from you!

I'd also like to thank profusely my beta, Ersatz Einstein, for all his patience and help in taming my tenses, prepositions, commas and weird constructions. I have to mention the last text revision and all the errors are always my fault, since I don't stop tinkering with the text until it's published (and I'll often continue tinkering for some time after that).

Unfortunately, my brilliant beta fears he won't be able to continue helping me much further, so if you'd be willing to try to beta this work, or recommend someone who could, I'd be most thankful.


	12. Investigation: New Sapienza

**Episode II: Investigation**

 **Chapter 2: New Sapienza**

Summary: As Kirk, Spock and McCoy arrive on New Sapienza, the captain listens to their discussion.

A/N: This chapter was getting too long and I was content enough with this first half, so I decided to post this sooner rather than later. Maybe by posting shorter chapters I'll be able to update more frequently.

Someone complained in an anonymous review that it's not clear who's talking when. I've tried to make it clearer, but note that it's just Spock and McCoy talking here.

OBS: Updated with corrections.

* * *

Kirk was piloting the shuttle towards the New Sapienza spaceport. What kind of scientific experiments would suffer interference from the use of transporters? Of course he knew there could be some, like sensitive subspace measurements, but for these they'd normally use small remote asteroids as lab sites. He massaged his neck, trying to relieve the stiffness he felt. Their quick stopover to collect Doctor John Smith was going to take longer than he had planned for. At least it was a chance to pilot a ship by himself, even if it's just a shuttle.

The planet below shone with purple seas and orange-y continents. He knew the unusual colors were due to the introduction of varied microorganisms, algae, lichens and moss, specially adapted to the environment, and used to convert the soil, seawater and atmosphere towards ones compatible with humanoid biology. But the planet still looked odd. The atmosphere had already been cleared from most noxious gases, but it wasn't breathable yet, with only trace amounts of oxygen and too much carbon dioxide. Therefore all the population was still living in domes, all of them concentrated in the only area in the southern continent that wasn't completely orange-tinted. A buffer zone was kept around the inhabited area, to prevent the mosses from happily dissolving the building materials in the same way they were eating up the surface rocks. Therefore, from this height, the New Sapienza University town showed as a light sandy-colored patch, with circular structures corresponding to the domes, interlinked by the thin darker lines of the surface transportation system.

Spock and McCoy had been talking since they entered the shuttle. He barely understood half of what they're saying. Histone analogs, three-dimensional molecular folding, he knew the words but he didn't understand their significance. But it was obvious that Spock understood, at least enough to ask relevant questions. And McCoy seemed happy to explain. He hadn't missed the fact that his two friends were talking animatedly and not arguing between them. Well, if he discounted the barbs from the good doctor and the dry rejoinders from the Vulcan.

"Of course," McCoy was saying, "the Cemery virus wasn't studied extensively until its symbiosis with the Omya brambles was discovered, and the nucleosome knot identified as a viral component. It's almost as if the brambles use the virus to wage biological warfare on competing plant life. Finch's team made the breakthrough in mapping how the interaction between the plant and the virus is mediated by phytohormones. The virus infects and kills off most other plant species, opening whole areas for colonization by the bramble seedlings. It's also active in the seedlings, enabling them to produce a toxin that protects them from grazing animals. But it's inactive in the mature shrub until a specific hormone is produced by the plant under stressful conditions. That hormone is also what stops vegetative growth and initiates the blooming of the shrubs to produce the seeds which in turn will carry the virus when dispersed by the wind."

"Fascinating," Spock replied. "Is it the hormone that unpacks the DNA?"

"No, in fact, it deactivates the plant protein that interacts with the viral histones to keep the DNA tightly folded up. Unfolded, the DNA can be copied and rearranged by the Aphred protein complex, which Finch describes in the paper."

"Impressive. So, the multiple additional messenger RNA are in fact extracted from a single DNA strand, in a way completely unrelated to how eukaryotic organisms achieve the same result."

"Yes, and that's the same reason why the nucleosome knot was initially misidentified," McCoy explained. "Most of it looks like non-coding DNA, which is quite rare among viruses. It's only the viral Aphred proteins, whose code the brambles incorporated into their own DNA, that are able to read and transcribe it. That's also how the plant manages to keep the virus under control." Kirk assumed all these words made some sense to the two of them, because he'd lost the train of thought a long time ago. Of course, he'd never bothered to spend much time studying microbiology.

"It's a very complex interaction. This DNA transcription process resembles the way text and image files can be compressed to use up less space."

"Of course your logical Vulcan mind would resort to computer parallels," the doctor complained, with no real heat. "But it's true. What's unique to the Cemery virus is its way of packing the information. It's not as if it couldn't carry enough DNA to code for all the proteins it needed. But the nucleosome knot also serves as the starting point for the assembly of the viral particles, so it's not surprising it's so well preserved."

"There is still one question you haven't answered, Doctor."

"And what is it, Spock?"

"What is the relation between the Cemery symbiotic virus and the Galinedorian flu virus?"

"Ah yes, the flu virus also presents a tightly folded, non-coding strand of DNA, at least as complex as the Cemery nucleosome knot. You see," McCoy said excitedly, "I've sequenced the complete viral DNA, while dissecting the virus to try to identify its origin, and I was curious about that non-coding stretch. I couldn't understand what it was doing there, or how it managed to avoid deletion, as eventually happens to any non-coding viral DNA. But it wasn't until you brought me that article that it finally clicked to me. It must perform some function in whatever species is the primary host for the virus."

"Would that be the Galinedorians, Doctor?"

"It's possible, but when I requested Starfleet Medical to ask for help from the Galinedorian government, they were refused. The Galinedorians seem to be very private about medical issues. Of course we can collect samples and look for the virus ourselves, but the Federation envoy was wary of angering the Galinedorians, and Starfleet Medical isn't sufficiently concerned about the virus to press the issue. Besides, everyone else is now worried about those Schreter infectious boils, even though they're only dangerous in extreme circumstances, so I think it's up to me to research it." And he launched into a detailed description of all the experiments he was already doing or planning to start, while Spock would sometimes make suggestions that were in fact taken into consideration by Doctor McCoy.

Kirk was filled with wonder, watching the two actually discussing something constructively. McCoy was a brilliant thinker in his own field. He could have followed a scientific career, but he'd rather treat patients and save lives. All that gruff exterior and poor bedside manners hid a warm, caring soul. Anyway, with his wide medical knowledge and curiosity he liked to keep abreast of the latest medical advancements and discoveries. That meant he and Spock had that in common, something which wasn't shared by their captain.

There was also the civilian clothes worn by both of them, of course, while he was still dressed in his uniform. They were both looking very much like researchers going to a conference, especially Spock with his Vulcan Academy robes. His first officer had warned him to change to casual clothing before they left. As they were boarding the shuttle, he'd asked why the captain hadn't followed his recommendation. "This is a university, and at New Sapienza in particular they don't like uniforms," Spock'd said. He'd replied he'd forgotten, but in fact he really hadn't wanted to do it. He was Starfleet, and there shouldn't be any need to hide it while in a Federation colony.

At that moment the spaceport traffic controller called, directing them to land at Bay 15. Kirk flew their shuttle expertly into the designated spot, watching curiously the assortment of small spaceships and shuttles lined up in the spaceport parking spaces. For a distant colony, there was quite a lot of traffic coming to New Sapienza. He hoped they'd find Doctor John Smith quickly and leave as soon as possible.

* * *

A/N: I'm not a specialist in microbiology or the like, I'm just an interested geek, so if you find a serious mistake in my presentation of the (hypothetical) viruses, please tell me. I've tried to make it as plausible as I can, given the current state of knowledge in the field. And yes, it's relevant to the story, but there won't be lots of additional biological discussion beyond this.


	13. Investigation: New Sapienza (contd)

**Episode II: Investigation**

 **Chapter 2: New Sapienza (contd)**

Summary: The trio arrives at New Sapienza and try to find their way around.

A/N: Here comes the second part of their arrival. This chapter hasn't been betaed. I'm still looking for a beta reader. If you'd like to volunteer, please leave me a message.

* * *

Kirk felt what little patience remained to him slipping away, as the spaceport officer continued to ignore him. Nonetheless, he was a trained diplomat, so he managed to keep a forced smile in his face until McCoy finally pulled him aside to let Spock deal with the man.

"Calm down, Jim. It kills me to say, but you should have listened to that blasted Vulcan. Social hierarchy works differently here and they don't care one jot for Starfleet captains, but Vulcan scientists, on the other hand..."

"Or medical researchers, like you," Kirk grumbled.

"Right. Look, there's an information totem. I don't trust Spock's contact to lead us to where we want to go, I'd like to know where we should go myself." They approached the totem, whose display showed a map of the whole town. "Okay, there should be a global directory here..." The doctor proceeded to fire a series of commands, surprising the captain.

"Bones, I thought you didn't like computers!"

"I don't like them telling me what to do, but this totem is almost exactly the same as the one we had when I was in college, and it's the fastest way to find who we want. Look, Professor Finch is listed as absent, due to return tomorrow. Well, it seems I'll have to go after Doctor John Smith with you. Let's see... Here, I've found him! It's him, right?" Indeed the display now showed a photo of the same man Kirk had met on Galinedoria, but here he was sporting a brilliant smile. There was almost no other information besides his specialization field, which said "everything", and place of stay, listed as "Residence Nedentide". Kirk watched as McCoy issued more commands. No voice commands, though, they were all gesture-based, unfamiliar to him. The display now showed instructions as to how they could get to the Residence. McCoy pressed one button and the totem printed a slip of paper containing the instructions and tickets for the ground transportation.

"Thanks, Bones! Now we only have to wait for Spock."

"Meanwhile, we can talk. Jim, it's clear you're not all right. You've been jumpy, irritated. Just after Ton Selat, you were a wreck. And you're not getting better. Not just as a doctor, but as your friend, what's happening?"

Kirk considered trying to deflect his questions, but ultimately decided against it. "I haven't been sleeping well, Bones."

"Nightmares?"

"Yes. They're back."

"You've been having them on and off for many months now. Any progress in remembering what it's all about?"

"No, just a sensation of impending doom, which has been growing lately. I have no idea why."

"I respect your intuition, Jim, but there's a limit to how much importance you can give to it and still remain sane."

"I'm trying, Bones! It's not as if anything I do changes it one bit!"

"Maybe you're worried about this John Smith. Sometimes, when you talk about him, you seem almost afraid of him."

"Perhaps... no, no, it's not that. He's troubling me, all right..."

"Spock is obsessed about him, you know."

"I've noticed. But he won't admit it."

"I do want to have a talk with this man. If he's managed to disturb my two, er, colleagues-"

"Captain, Doctor," called Spock, coming from the other side of the vast, mostly empty hall that served as an welcoming center. "I've found the information we need. We have to pick the main-"

"The main landrail, until Nedentide, we know," said Kirk.

"Oh? How did you learn it?"

"I'm not a novice, Spock. The information totems here may be tricky to the uninitiated, but I can handle them!" replied the doctor, waving the tickets in his hand.

Arguing all the way, the three of them moved to the station to board the train. Kirk felt slightly relieved to see normality reasserting itself.


	14. Investigation: Residence Nedentide

**Episode II: Investigation**

 **Chapter 3: Residence Nedentide**

Summary: Kirk, Spock and McCoy finally meet the Doctor.

OBS: Updated with small corrections.

* * *

As the vehicle entered the Nedentide Dome's airlock, Spock and McCoy were still arguing. At the start of the hour long trip, the doctor had been complaining about the role the Vulcan Science Council had had in supporting the foundation of the colony, but Kirk'd lost track of their discussion early on, when the only other humans in the carriage, a pair of youngsters, had approached, curious about the Starfleet captain. He'd been surprised to discover that Mia and Joseph were the children of an old childhood acquaintance. The boy was enthusiastic about his acceptance to the graduate course in applied biology, and he'd talked at length to Kirk about the next steps of the terraforming process of the planet. Mia, who'd joined the computer science program, was more subdued, since she was still recovering from a flu that she'd contracted in the starliner that brought them here. But talking with the two youngsters had lifted the captain's spirits, and he was smiling as he said his goodbyes to them.

Spock and McCoy joined him, and the three _Enterprise_ officers stepped aside to let the dozen or so other passengers, most of them students, leave the terminal and move inside the dome, talking animatedly among themselves. Watching them stride ahead, Kirk thought of his son, until he suddenly realized the doctor had asked him a question.

"Sorry, Bones, what was that?"

His friend examined him critically. Nodding to himself, McCoy raised his eyebrow and said, "I was wondering if you'd heard about Je'Ena's theory."

"Master Je'Ena of L'vory has done groundbreaking work on classifying the evolutionary processes of primitive life emergence, and explaining why sometimes such emergence seems to be stalled," Spock explained.

"No, I've never heard about it. Why?"

"Oh, nothing serious at all," McCoy snarked. "It's just that this stubborn Vulcan refuses to consider the possibility that this planet was uninhabited for a very good reason! Something must be killing off life here before it can get organized enough. This colony may be on the brink of a disaster!"

"There's no evidence of repeating solar storms or other phenomena that would justify such fears, Doctor."

"No? And what about the other planets in the sector? There's only two which have managed to develop any form of multicellular life, and that's being charitable! It's too much of a coincidence!"

"You are mistaken. The probability of such a region being found somewhere within the space of the Federation is 71.2%."

"That's if Je'Ena is correct, but I'm far from convinced! Her figures-"

"Enough!" Kirk raised both his arms between them as if to keep his two friends from coming to blows. "You can continue your discussion once we're done here. Right now, I need you to focus. We want to find and talk to Doctor John Smith, and have him come with us to help clarify the circumstances surrounding the Galinedorian incident."

"Sorry, Captain," said Spock, while McCoy grumbled something. "That should be the reception for Residence Nedentide," he added, pointing to the nearest entrance to the large building complex occupying most of the dome, surrounded by parks, walkways and clusters of smaller buildings. "I can come in and check whether the Doctor is there, while you check the grounds."

"No, we'll all come inside together. If he's there, I want to give him a chance to come with us peacefully." Not that they had much chance of forcing him to come with them if he didn't want to. They'd been forced to leave their phasers in the shuttle, since only the local security was allowed to carry weapons, and Kirk didn't harbor any illusions about the willingness of the local authorities to help enforce Starfleet arrest warrants against a supposed fellow academic.

They started down the path to the Residence, following the small crowd that had arrived with them. Kirk looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Doctor John Smith on the off-chance he was nearby. Spock was quiet, walking to Kirk's left, while Dr. McCoy strolled ahead, stopping here and there to peer inside a small shop or to exchange a few words with passersby. Soon, however, the doctor came back to Kirk's side and began commenting about the sights.

"You know, Jim, Residence Nedentide was originally designed by the Zankara main architecture school for their new university, but the war frustrated their plans and it was never built. Once they began planning the New Sapienza colony, the best ideas were collected from around the Federation, and the Nedentide design was chosen, with minimal adaptations, for the main residential complex for graduate students and visiting scholars. I have a friend who participated in the design board, and he told me about it. As you can see, it's shaped as an hexagon on the outside, but the interior wings meet each other at odd angles, seemingly without pattern. It's almost like a maze, encircling small interior gardens, many of which are enclosed to allow the reproduction of biomas from different planets. The idea is that the students would be able to find welcoming, familiar spots where they could sit and study. It may not be the largest university residence complex, but it certainly is the most sophisticated one, at least within the Federation."

"Doctor, there is a pattern for the design, it's inspired on the Zankara winter rose petal arrangement, and it's fractal in nature."

"I don't care, Spock. It's beautiful, and practical, the Zankara are remarkable architects-"

"Gentlemen, we're here," interrupted Kirk, as they arrived at the large doors for the main reception area. They entered the building, immediately noticing the many small groups of students sitting in benches or around small tables, talking or playing games. At the back of the large hall, there was a comparatively small desk, with a single receptionist, currently absorbed with a book. Kirk could see an eating area farther to the right, separated by a glass wall. Surprisingly there wasn't much noise, and Kirk wondered that it was probably due to some sort of acoustic covering in the ceiling. A very smart idea, in a building full of young, energetic students.

They approached the receptionist. Apparently the other newcomers had already been sent to their lodgings, and the girl was surprised to see the tall Vulcan suddenly appear before her. She straightened up and asked, "Sorry, what can I do for you? Do you have a reservation? I wasn't expecting anyone else today."

"No," said Spock, "we're here to talk with Doctor John Smith. Could you please tell us where we can find him?"

"Doctor John Smith?" She looked distrustfully at Kirk, who was standing just behind Spock. "Is he expecting you?"

"No, but I believe that if you tell him that Spock is here he'll come to see us."

Shooting another glance to Kirk, she replied, "I'm sorry, but he's not in his rooms. You can leave a message for him and I'll make sure he receives it."

"If he's in the building, we could look for him around in the common areas."

"Sorry, but entrance is permitted only to residents and accompanied guests."

Kirk was the first of the three to see the man. He was looking around when he saw the doors open, but from his position he didn't have a clear view to whoever had come in. Nonetheless, he did notice as the people inside the lobby turned to look, some standing, others straightening up, and he was curious as to whom had arrived. He walked around the closest group, hoping for a better view, and that was when he saw Doctor John Smith, a big grin on his face, striding across the lobby towards them. He stopped briefly to speak to some of the students who had flocked around him, as if he was a pop star. Kirk was astounded. Even those who'd been absorbed in their conversations had stopped to look at the Doctor. The man had presence. He felt a stab of envy. That role would usually be his, but here Starfleet was viewed with indifference or even hostility. He began to think that maybe they'd made a mistake in choosing the place where they'd meet the Doctor.

Spock and McCoy, absorbed with talking to the receptionist, finally turned when the Doctor said, in a loud, clear voice, "Ah, here you are! I was wondering if you'd come."

Spock raised an eyebrow, looking at the tall man approaching. "Doctor, we were looking for you." Kirk noticed that the receptionist perked up and opened a smile when she saw the man approaching. As did half the female students in the lobby, regardless of species, and a good part of the males as well, while many others looked embarrassed or intimidated.

"Indeed you were, my Vulcan friend! It's okay, Melina, they're friends," he said to the receptionist. She launched a last wary look towards Kirk, then turned to the Doctor, smiling.

"Do you want your correspondence, John?"

"Later, thanks, if there's anything. I believe we're going to walk around a bit, first."

"All right." She almost seemed to deflate at that.

"So, Kirk, Spock, and that's Doctor McCoy, brilliant! Would you please come with me? Since you came all the way here, the least I can do is show you around."

"Doctor, we can't stay long, we're here just-" began the captain.

"Oh, bollocks, your ship is a fine one, you can return to what you were doing pretty fast, isn't that right? You can afford to spend a few hours with a friend," the Doctor said, while leading them towards one of the inner doors. "Besides, you don't want all those fine young people to know what you really came here to do, hm?" he asked, looking hard at the Starfleet officers. He led them through the inner doors, towards an open area where there was a booth selling food and refreshments, as well as some chairs and tables. However, instead of stopping, he walked straight towards another set of doors to the right, pulling the Starfleet officers with him. "Come on, you don't want to put up a scene, do you?"

"We came looking for you, yes," Spock cut in, before his captain could say something inappropriate. "But we're also here to meet Professor Finch."

"Professor Finch, of course! He leads one of the teams in charge of the terraforming of this beautiful planet, did you know that? His is one of the finest research teams in this galaxy, in the field of theoretical bioengineering! His former students are disputed by all organizations with more than a passing interest in bioengineering. There are even a few working in Starfleet."

"He's brilliant, yes. I read that paper of his about the Cemery virus non-coding genome. Have you read it?" asked McCoy.

"Yes I did," he said distractedly, looking around the hallway as if in search for something. "Well, it doesn't matter. Let's come through here. There should be a quiet place where we can sit and talk, without eavesdroppers." And he led them through yet another set of doors, though these were more modest and barely discernible. They found themselves in a small open space. The enclosing walls had no windows, and there was only one other door leading out of the place. But there was a set of benches where they could sit and talk, as well as a table. The Doctor opened his bag and took two bottles of drink, which he passed along to Kirk and McCoy. He then took two more, gave one to Spock and opened his. "Go on, drink it. That's very refreshing, it's locally grown arango juice."

"Thanks," began Kirk, but the Doctor didn't give him a chance to talk.

"Now, your Professor Finch, he's out there with his team checking the terraformation progress and showing some of his visitors around. You know, there'll be a conference here in three days, where many of the most brilliant minds in his field will attend. It'll be a big event. Most of his former students are already with him, but they won't be back in town until tomorrow. So I believe you'll have to wait to meet him."

McCoy looked towards Kirk, "Jim?"

"All right, fine. We'll stay until tomorrow."

"That's brilliant! You can stay here in the Nedentide Dome."

"I don't think so," replied the captain, "we'll find quarters closer to the spaceport," and more secure ones, he thought. "And you'll come with us."

"You don't know what you'd be missing, captain! This residence here was built by-"

"You know we're here to arrest you," Kirk interrupted brusquely.

"Of course, I'm not stupid. You probably also have a lot of questions about the Galinedorian incident."

"So you'll come peacefully, right? Or will you try to escape again?"

The Doctor ignored the question. "I was hoping you'd come. I'd met T'Val and I got the impression that she'd tell you where I was going, but you didn't show up. I was about to try to call you."

"You wanted us to come?"

"Of course! There's something going to happen tomorrow, which I intend to prevent, and you being here will help make things easier."

"What's going to happen, Doctor?"

"A murder. A mass murder, to be exact. A group of mercenaries is about to attempt to blow up the whole compound where Professor Finch's team and his former students will meet tomorrow."


	15. Investigation: Conversations

**Episode II: Investigation**

 **Chapter 4: Conversations**

Summary: Some explanations are in order.

A/N: No cliffhanger this time. Also, just remember, your reviews and comments help me write better, and faster.

OBS: Updated with corrections and additions.

* * *

Previously:

"What's going to happen, Doctor?"

"A murder. A mass murder, to be exact. A group of mercenaries is about to attempt to blow up the whole compound where Professor Finch's team and his former students will meet tomorrow."

* * *

Spock noticed the shock and irritation in the captain's face. The Doctor himself was serious, staring into Kirk's eyes. If this was a diversionary tactic on the Doctor's part to throw their interrogation, it wasn't going to work as intended. From what Spock had learned of the Doctor, it'd also probably be the truth, or at least part of it. He decided to take the lead, as he'd often do during difficult negotiations, to give his captain the opportunity to recover his balance.

"Doctor Smith-"

"Just Doctor, please."

"Doctor Smith," Spock repeated, and the Doctor turned to face him. His posture subtly relaxed, and he fixed his wide open, curious eyes on Spock. Interesting. Spock found himself wondering if he'd have the opportunity to play chess against this human. "This is only your third day in New Sapienza, and you've already managed to leave an impression on the students here." Spock'd noticed that at least 22 of the 31 people in the lobby, besides the receptionist, had watched raptly as the Doctor exchanged words with the Starfleet officers there.

"Well, yes," the Doctor began, before Spock could formulate his question. "A pair of troublemakers tried to crash a party, the night after my arrival, but I was nearby and convinced them to leave." He shrugged. "It sort of made me famous around here." Spock had heard of the incident from his contact. The two drunken bullies had been spoiling for a fight, and everyone'd been surprised when they instead had listened to the stranger and backed down. That, added to the Doctor's obvious natural charisma, could be enough to explain the students' reactions, but not why the Doctor risked interfering.

"I would have expected you to continue to keep a low profile, to avoid attracting attention to yourself, as you've been doing since Galinedoria."

"Have I?" The man squirmed in the chair, as if he was uncomfortable. "Well, I couldn't stand aside and let them harm other people. Besides, as I said, I really hoped to meet you here."

"We know you've been to Parangel before going to Galinedoria." The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "The Vulcan ambassador was contacted by the government when you were arrested, but you managed to escape before she was allowed to talk to you. You found out about the cloaked Bird of Prey there, is that right?"

"Yes, well, not exactly, well... I can't really talk about it, not yet." Spock stared at the Doctor, and the Doctor looked back, serious.

"I've followed your trail throughout Federation space, Doctor. After Galinedoria, you went to Alander Prime, where the librarian remembered your visit, before the assassination of Professor Ka'h."

The Doctor turned his face away. "I tried to stop it. I failed."

"Did you know it was about to happen?"

"I knew something was going to happen, but not what, or when." He bent forward towards Spock, resting his elbows on his knees, earnest. "I've heard about a hit list, targeting some eminent biologists and medical researchers within the Federation. I've been following its trail ever since. Here is the first time I've managed to identify the hired killers."

"There hasn't been other assassination attempts. At least not since Alander Prime, Doctor."

"Not yet. That's why we have to stop them now."

"So that's what you've been doing at Geren III, and Elender Station. Checking possible victims."

The Doctor's eyes lit up, interested. "You've been trying to find me!"

"You left a very definite trail, speeding across Federation territory at Warp 4 and stopping at several research facilities on the way, until you came to Zikran 27 and talked to T'Val. It was only a matter of looking for the right clues."

"I'm impressed, Spock. It seems I might've underestimated you." The Doctor smiled, reclining back.

"Why were you asking for those biology and medicine papers?"

"Oh, were I? Brilliant!" he exclaimed, grinning widely. "I'll be sure to remember that."

"Doctor." Spock noted to himself that the Doctor's enthusiastic reaction seemed quite illogical.

"Ah, yes. Sorry," he said, still grinning. Spock reckoned he didn't seem sorry at all. "You could say that I was trying to understand the reason why those researchers were the ones targeted for assassination."

"And your conclusion?"

"Well," he said, extending the vowel. "I expect your good Doctor McCoy will be able to tell us something about that."

Before McCoy could say something, though, the captain decided to rejoin the conversation. "Doctor Smith, why did you come here, even before you knew the next target would be Professor Finch?"

The Doctor frowned as Kirk said his name. "I didn't know, for certain, when it'd happen, but as Professor Ka'h was the first name in the list, and Professor Finch the second, with many of his students and associates also on the list, I guessed they'd likely come here next. Then I heard you were also in this sector, and I hoped to catch up with you."

"Where's this list? I'd like to have a look at it."

"I'm sorry, but I didn't manage to get a copy, I just memorized some of the names."

"So we only have your word to go on that."

The Doctor crossed his arms. "If I had more evidence maybe I wouldn't've needed to come to you."

"And there's a very good question," Kirk said, leaning forward. "Why do you want us to help you catch these killers? Why do you think we'd be willing to go with you?"

The Doctor looked back at the captain for a moment, serious. "I admit we haven't parted in the best of circumstances at Galinedoria, and I'm sorry for that. But at least you know me. I'm not your enemy, and I came to consider you my friends. Besides, I know you have a lot of experience in less than usual situations, and I trust you to do what you believe is right. We have to stop these killers, the local security force doesn't have experience with this sort of professional mercenaries, and it'd take longer than we have to try to convince them to do something. Please, Captain Kirk, trust me, just this time."

Kirk stared back, arms crossed. This time, however, Doctor McCoy decided to intervene.

"Jim, I say we go with him, and check these guys. If they're trying to kill Professor Finch, I guess the locals will need our help anyway."

Doctor Smith nodded towards the _Enterprise_ 's doctor. "Thank you, Doctor."

"All right, Bones," sighed Kirk, "we'll do it your way. Tell me then, Doctor Smith, who are these assassins? More Wamarraki?"

"Possibly, yes."

"How many are them?"

"I've seen three of them, and I can recognize their faces, but I noticed them using communicators to talk to at least one more that I haven't seen."

"How do you know they'll go for explosives?"

"I don't know for sure, but it makes sense, since the compound will be off-limits to outsiders once the visitors begin arriving. It'll be a high-security event, with some high-profile political leaders attending. That's also why I believe they'll try to do it soon, after the Professor's team and most of his students have arrived but before the full security measures are in place for the other guests. I doubt they'd use advanced high yield explosives, since that'd certainly bring the attention of Starfleet Intelligence. They've tried to disguise Professor Ka'h's shooting as unintentional, and I believe they'll attempt some form of misdirection here as well. Maybe using the local ecological protestors as an excuse."

Spock had discussed the local Far'ni'ta group with McCoy on the way from the spaceport. They were just a tiny group, but very vocal, and more than willing to take more violent measures to bring attention to their cause, which was to get the Federation to leave New Sapienza unterraformed. They argued that the planet was an unparallelled opportunity to observe the emergence of life in a pristine environment. They also argued that something must be preventing primitive life from evolving too far in the sector, and colonizing the planet was risking retribution from whatever forces were at work here. McCoy's romantic views had led him to sympathize with the Far'ni'ta, leading Spock to remark on the illogicity of it all.

"All right," said Kirk, interrupting Spock's musings. "How do you suggest we proceed?"

"Well, they've rented a house in the residential dome next to the compound's," the Doctor stated. "I've been there a couple of times, trying to find out what they were doing, but I think they've noticed me walking around. If I go there again they'll most likely recognize me. I suggest Mr. Spock could go and try to check their house to see if we could catch them by surprise. It's important to get them alive if possible, so we can learn about who are behind the assassinations and why, and who are the other targets."

"Why Spock? I can go instead," said Kirk.

"Sorry, Jim," said McCoy, "but you're sort of obvious in this Starfleet uniform, they'll see you coming from a mile away. Besides, no one will look twice at a Vulcan in an university."

"He's right, Captain," said Spock. He spent five point two seconds examining alternatives, but concluded that any other option would carry too much of a risk. It was illogical to hope for another solution. He watched as Kirk and the Doctor discussed details, dutifully noting them down for later reference while he drank the rest of his surprisingly satisfactory arango juice bottle. He found himself wishing they could all come together, but dismissed the thought as resulting from exhaustion. He decided it'd be logical to take extra time to rest and meditate once they were back to the _Enterprise_.

They left Residence Nedentide and took the ground transportation again, towards a shopping mall complex next to the residential dome where the suspects had rented their house. Spock was absorbed in his thoughts. The captain was now talking normally with McCoy and Doctor Smith, about New Sapienza. It seemed the Doctor knew quite a bit about the colony, and he was regaling them with stories. But he could see Kirk was still distrustful toward the Doctor. That was no surprise since Spock also wasn't ready to fully trust the Doctor, but Spock suspected there was something more to Kirk's attitude than that.

He knew Doctor McCoy was also worried about Kirk. Ever since they left the spaceport, every now and then he'd glance towards their captain, trying to be discreet. Their previous discussion, in the way in, had been mostly for show, falling into their usual, easy patterns that let both of them continue to pay attention to whatever worried them. He'd have to ask McCoy exactly what was worrying him about the captain.

Spock left the other three in a cafe near the walkway connecting the mall to the residential dome, and began following the Doctor's instructions on how to get to the suspects' house. It was easy for him, dressed in the traditional Vulcan garb, to fit in with the other academics walking around. He only hoped Doctor McCoy would manage to keep the peace between Doctor Smith and Captain Kirk until his return.


	16. Investigation: Doctor and Doctor

**Episode II: Investigation**

 **Chapter 5: Doctor and Doctor**

Summary: McCoy and the Doctor talk.

A/N: Sorry for the delay. On top of work, I'm also dealing with illness in the family, so my writing has been strongly affected. I seldom manage to write what I've planned to. On the plus side, this chapter hadn't been planned originally, but as I tried to finish the next, crucial, chapter, I realized that this one simply had to happen. Though I'm less than comfortable writing Doctor McCoy, I believe this chapter became something even more interesting than I'd first imagined, and hopefully you'll like it too. Note that I've also made some corrections and additions to the previous chapters in this episode. Thanks for the anonymous review, I've also tried to make it more obvious who's talking when in the previous dialogues, though I've tried to avoid making it too slow and repetitive. I hope no one'll have trouble following the dialogue in this chapter. Please tell me if it works for you.

I'm slowly getting back into schedule, writing material for the next episodes. However, preparing each chapter for posting remains a challenge, since I'm still without a beta reader. Anyway, I'm committed to finishing the first part of the story some time around the 50th years anniversary of the series. The first part will consist of the first four complete episodes, together with the prologue and interludes.

* * *

McCoy watched while Kirk gave last minute directions to Spock. The Vulcan was listening patiently, while it was clear that the captain dearly wished he could go as well. At the _Enterprise_ 's doctor's side, Doctor John Smith was talking nonstop about something or other. He hadn't stopped talking the whole way from Residence Nedentide up to the quaint coffee shop where they'd chosen to wait for Spock's return. Kirk had used the opportunity to try to pry some answers from their talkative companion, but Smith had easily avoided answering the captain's not so subtle proddings, jumping from subject to subject, so that McCoy had completely lost track of the conversation long before they'd arrived. Spock, on the other hand, had only said something when directly asked by one of the others. McCoy realized he was also worried about his pointy-eared friend. He seemed unusually introspective, even for a Vulcan. McCoy'd even tried provoking him, but with little response.

He automatically hummed in agreement as Smith made a slight pause in his monologue. Darn, that man could talk! He watched him from the corner of his eye. The man seemed completely focused on the captain and the first officer who were talking a dozen meters away. McCoy wondered how the other managed to run off his mouth so much while being so obviously distracted. He tried to focus on what the man was saying, as a few words caught his attention.

"Of course, they're wrong. The Asicati couldn't care less about the ecology of the planet. But they did get one thing right, these eco-protestors. Life in this sector is condemned. Of course, the catastrophe won't happen until a hundred thousand years in the future, instead of in a hundred years or so as they're expecting it, but it's a very good guess anyway."

McCoy half-turned, shocked. Was Smith stating that the Far'ni'ta had a point? He remembered his previous discussion with Spock, when for the sake of the argument he'd assumed their point of view, but he didn't really believe in their fantasies. Smith, however, didn't stop there, completely oblivious to the effect his words were having on McCoy. "The reason, of course, has nothing to do with mythical god-like beings residing in subspace. Though it does have to do with subspace itself. Incredible that they've managed to get so many pieces right while building up a completely nonsensical argument. But that's humans for you, incredibly brilliant in one moment, and astoundingly stupid in the next. Sometimes I really wonder why I like you so much."

McCoy was stunned. Had he heard it correctly? He continued to listen, openmouthed, to Smith's long-winded monologue, while he tried to make sense of the words he'd just heard. Why would he put himself outside of humanity? Smith was increasingly animated with his own explanation, though still so focused on the two other Starfleet officers that he ignored the doctor at his side. "It's like the supervolcanos on a geologically active planet," Smith explained, "such as Earth itself. Every few million years, a mantle plume would blast through the crust, transforming the surface, like in the Hawaiian islands. But the crust continues to move relative to the plume, so every time the explosion will hit a slightly different spot. Except that, in the case of the Faren-Ortean rift, it's dragging the binary star and the surrounding nebula along with it. The last explosion, five million years ago, caused the third star in the system to turn into a supernova. The resulting black hole was ejected from the system, carrying enough momentum to leave the two other stars trapped by the rift, in the center of a dead sector where all life was disrupted by the rift energy release. That escaping black hole has left the sector, and will pass near enough to the Comilla system to terrify the local population in two Earth centuries from now. Meanwhile, the rift subspace oscillations have disturbed the trapped stars, resulting in that fascinating emission nebula you've been studying. Unfortunately, the next cyclical rift activation will blast the nebula away and affect all the planets in the sector, resetting the clock on life evolution once again. Luckily for them, at that point the rift will detach itself from the gravitational fabric of the galaxy, so the following explosion will happen more than a thousand parsecs away from the galactic disk's plane."

It was clear that the whole monologue wasn't intended to be heard by the medic, but he was able to follow enough of it to understand the gist of the argument. He continued listening, as Smith gestured towards some imaginary audience. "You know, the catastrophe that created the rift is really ancient. It didn't even happen in this galaxy, but in another one, billions of years ago. A severe conflagration, so intense that the fabric of space and time itself was torn, leaving an indelible scar. Then this galaxy came along, and the rift has been dragged along with it for the last hundred million years, activating star formation and causing innumerable supernovas, one of the reasons this sector is so incredibly rich in rare minerals that people came here to mine the resources and to study its secrets."

McCoy wondered how the man could possibly know so much about this subspace rift. Then it suddenly clicked. The odd behavior, his distancing from humanity and his very advanced and detailed knowledge in so many different fields of knowledge, all of it strongly suggested he wasn't a normal human being. Perhaps not even a human being at all. McCoy knew that there existed some very advanced civilizations in the galaxy, a number of which the Federation had already met, and a few others they'd only heard about. And there were a few humanoid species that were indistinguishable, externally, from human beings. It was quite possible that Smith belonged to a particularly advanced one. Maybe he was an explorer like them. It was also possible that, like Trelane, he was only disguising himself as human. McCoy shivered. If this Doctor Smith was anything like Trelane, this could quickly become a nightmare. McCoy hadn't sensed any danger from the man, but that didn't mean he couldn't be mistaken.

Smith hadn't stopped talking, though McCoy realized that the subject had somehow moved back to the mosses covering most of New Sapienza's land area. "Doctor Smith," tried McCoy, but he continued to ignore him. He stepped in front of the other and crossed his arms, until Smith finally focused on him.

Startled, Smith sheepishly pushed his hands into his trouser pockets. "Well, er... Don't mind me. I tend to babble sometimes."

"Really. I should be offended that you took such care of what you said in front of Kirk and Spock but completely forgot about me."

"It seems I've underestimated you too," Smith grinned, surprising McCoy. "You're brilliant, yes you are."

"You're not human, are you? Why all this charade?"

"Please don't tell them," the alien asked, looking towards the two other Starfleet officers.

"Why not?"

"It's crucial," he said, earnestly looking at McCoy, who noticed that his face had dropped the happy demeanor of earlier. It was almost as if this was a different person. "They'll learn it in time, but not yet."

"They probably suspect it already," said McCoy, bending the truth a bit.

"Yes, they may suspect it, but once they know for sure they'll have questions I can't answer yet."

"Can't, or won't?"

Doctor Smith shifted. "They'll ask questions, and when I don't answer, they'll try to lock me up. Please," he looked beseechingly towards the _Enterprise_ 's doctor. "It's really important."

"Let me guess, otherwise something bad will happen. It's not just about Professor Finch, is it?"

"No. Your friends' lives, your ship, will be at risk. The Federation itself, as you know it, is at stake. If they learn about me too soon, they won't accept my help." McCoy shivered at Smith's serious tone.

"And I should trust that you'll help us."

"Yes," he said, completely serious.

"How much of what you said earlier was a lie?"

"Everything I told you and your friends before was the truth," Smith tried to reassure him.

"Just not the whole truth, hm?" But Doctor Smith didn't answer, just stared back. However McCoy noticed that Spock was about to leave, and there wasn't any more time to interrogate the alien before the captain turned back to wait with them. He was angry, and also afraid, but he felt that the alien was being truthful. He considered that the other hadn't threatened him to keep his secret, just asked for his trust. "We're not finished, we'll talk later," he murmured, and indicated his approaching captain. The alien silently nodded back.

McCoy turned towards Kirk. It was obvious he'd seen them talking, because he was watching them curiously, eyes glinting. He looked at McCoy, raising his eyebrows. McCoy shrugged and nodded almost imperceptibly towards Doctor Smith, who was now back to his bubbly, grinning self.

"Captain Kirk!" Smith said. "Good of you to join our conversation!"

"More like a monologue," grumbled McCoy, amusedly.

"I see that you two have hit it off," Kirk said. "Why don't I go to pick up the coffee, while you finish off whatever you're talking about?"

"Just tea for me," asked Smith. "And biscuits, their ginger biscuits are wonderful!" he added cheekily. McCoy glared at him, but Smith ignored him, watching Kirk instead. The captain just shrugged, and left them to talk among themselves. McCoy knew Jim would be very curious to hear what he'd learned about Smith, and he wondered what he could say. That is, if Smith managed to convince him to keep his secret. He gathered his thoughts and tried to work out which questions to ask first.

He motioned Smith towards one of the small tables at the open area before the coffee shop and sat, facing the shop's entrance. None of the tables was occupied, so he assumed it was safe to talk there. Smith sat in front of him and opened his arms. "Here I am. What do you want to know?"

"Who are you, really?"

"The Doctor."

"Just the Doctor? Doctor who?"

"Exactly!" The Doctor beamed.

"I won't get a better answer, will I?"

"That's who I am, that's how everyone knows me." He shrugged.

"Why do you want to help us?"

"Because I'm here, and that's what I do."

"You go around helping people."

"Yup!" The Doctor was grinning again, and McCoy wondered if that was his usual expression.

"Why us?"

"Why not?"

"You tell me. Why not the Wamarraki, or whoever it is behind them?"

"Well, I don't like it when someone tries to subjugate or destroy others," he said somberly. It almost sounded like a warning, McCoy thought.

"So you go stumbling into other people's affairs and get yourself involved, is that it?"

"More or less, yeah." The Doctor was watching McCoy, as if challenging him to mention that interference was against the Prime Directive. At least that's what he guessed the other was thinking. Since he himself had never been very fond of the Prime Directive, he chose to stay quiet. Besides, it was quite possible that the Doctor's civilization, whatever it was, had something equivalent to the Prime Directive, so the Doctor could be a renegade from their point of view. He decided to probe carefully in that direction.

"If you're not human, what are you, then?"

"No species you've ever heard of. Really," he added, seeing McCoy's doubtful look, "I come from very far away. You'll probably never meet another of my kind."

"You don't know a Trelane, by any chance, do you?"

"Trelane? I may have heard that name before, but no, I don't think I know them, no."

"Why do you look so much like humans? Is this some sort of disguise?"

He laughed. "No, it's rather the other way around. You look like us. Curious, don't you think, that so many intelligent species in your galaxy fit the so-called 'humanoid' template?"

"Do your people have anything to do with it?"

"No, I don't think so, they don't like to meddle with others," he said with a frown. "At least, not directly..." He trailed off, lost in thought.

"Then why are you here?" McCoy asked, after a moment.

"Well," the Doctor seemed embarrassed, "my people don't like leaving our planet much, they're content to observe from a distance, but that was never enough for me. So I left, and I've been traveling ever since. Though I didn't plan to come here, it just happened."

"If that's so, why do you think you can help us? Do you know who's threatening the Federation?"

"Well, that's one of the things I can't tell you just yet. It's possible that I know whoever it is that's plotting against the Federation, but even if I haven't met them before, I'm your best chance of defeating whatever they have planned. I have a lot of experience in this sort of thing," he grinned again.

"You know, we've dealt with many serious threats on our own, before."

"If I thought you'd be able to handle this one by yourselves, you wouldn't have me pestering you any longer."

"So, you're like, what? An investigator for the intergalactic police? Once you find out who's involved you'll call in the big shots?"

"No, it's just me."

"Just you." This man, alien, was really arrogant, McCoy thought. Or much more powerful than he was letting on. "And you can stop this extremely dangerous threat all on your own."

"Not on my own, I'm counting on working with you, but yes. If I can't handle it, there's hardly anyone else who can."

McCoy considered the alien before him. Human looking, yes, but his eyes now spoke of knowledge and power well beyond human experience. "What do you want in return?"

"In return? Nothing, as I said, that's what I do. Once you can handle it, I'll leave. I don't ask for anything in return."

"Just leave? That's no good." McCoy recalled reading novels with this type of lone ranger, would-be hero. He never dreamed he'd meet someone who'd want to fit the stereotype. "Once this is finished, you must promise to stay, at least for long enough to celebrate with us."

The Doctor didn't seem happy. He stared back for a moment, considering, then said, "All right, if you still want me around, once it's finished I'll stay for a bit, if I'm able to."

"That's better. By the way, when will I be able to tell the captain who you really are?"

"I expect it won't be long. We'll meet again, and once I can I'll tell them myself, so you won't need to."

"You don't intend to stay around and let the captain take you to the _Enterprise_ , do you?"

"No," the Doctor said. "It's not time yet."

"You know, you could simply tell him what you've told me. He'd understand."

"Maybe. Then again, maybe not. He doesn't trust me yet. Even if he chose to believe me, you've had a number of negative experiences with previously unknown, hostile lifeforms that'd warrant a cautious approach. He might eventually let me go, but I don't think he'd be willing to accept my help without me explainining things that I really, really can't explain just yet."

"Why not?" McCoy asked, but the Doctor didn't reply, just tilted his head and raised one eyebrow. The _Enterprise_ 's doctor pondered the issue. He trusted Jim would not be moved by fear or prejudice, and that his friend was a much better judge of character than he himself was. However he had to acknowledge that Jim was also a ship's captain, with responsibilities towards the crew and Starfleet as a whole. Even if he believed that a different course of action might be better in a given situation, it'd take an exceptional set of circumstances to make him go against rules and regulations, or trust a stranger with the safety of his crew. Besides, Jim Kirk wasn't behaving like his usual self. He had to wonder what it had to do with the alien before him.

The Doctor was looking at him expectantly. McCoy smirked. "But you believe I'll trust you."

"Will you? I hope so. Are you satisfied?"

"Just one more question," McCoy said. "Why is the captain so wary of you?" He carefully watched the Doctor's reaction to his question. He thought he could see pain and deep sadness in the other's eyes, though he wasn't sure if he was reading it correctly.

"Your captain has very good instincts," the Doctor said, serious. "I am dangerous. No, I'm not a threat to you, I promise. But," he grimaced, "people around me sometimes get hurt."

"I can understand that, I guess. Jim's the same. But if I'm to keep your secret I want you to promise you won't knowingly put them in danger, or risk their lives in whatever scheme it is you're planning."

"I swear," the Doctor vowed solemnly, "I'll sooner lay down my life rather than risk theirs, if it's within my power."

"That'll do," McCoy replied, impressed.

"Now, have you decided what you're going to tell Kirk about me?" the Doctor asked, grinning mischievously. McCoy was surprised to see how quickly the Doctor's mood could change.

"I can always claim doctor-patient privilege and say nothing," he replied.

"Wait, I'm not your patient!" the other complained.

"Not yet. But you only have to tell me what your injuries were in Galinedoria, so I can evaluate if you might need some follow-up treatment. I admit I'm curious. By the way, how did you manage to knock Mr. Rahdi unconscious back then?"

"He simply fell asleep," the Doctor said, smiling. "He was suffering from insomnia, and he's very suggestible. I'm very adept at suggestion, myself. He wasn't hurt or in any danger, I promise."

"I see." McCoy thought there must be more behind the incident, but it wasn't yet time to push the Doctor farther than he was willing to go. "And your injuries?"

"Nothing too serious, well, yes, it was serious," he relented. "That's why I had to leave while I could. Concussion, four broken ribs, bruised kidneys and liver..." He trailed off. Surprised, McCoy watched his eyes become unfocused. He immediately forgot his growing horror at the description of the alien's past injuries and became worried.

"What is it? Are you all right?"

"There's something wrong," the Doctor said, moving his head slowly from left to right, as if looking at something far away.

* * *

A/N: I intend to post the next chapter on August 1st at the latest, hopefully earlier, unless Real Life intervenes again.

A/N 2: On the Far'ni'ta "eco-protestors", remember that Star Trek has an optimistic stance towards technological progress, so McCoy sympathizes with them but doesn't really understand their reasoning. The Doctor, otoh, behaves as he typically does, and doesn't take them seriously. I intend to (possibly) write a short story later, proeminently featuring them as protagonists. They're a small local group protesting the terraforming of the planet mostly on spiritual grounds, and are in fact a criticism on Federation society and culture.


	17. Investigation: Coffee and Danger

**Episode II: Investigation**

 **Chapter 6 - Coffee and Danger**

Summary: Not even a nice, restful coffee break would go undisrupted...

* * *

A/N: OMG it's already been two and a half months since my last update! I apologize to you who've been waiting for this story. My father died, and my muse flew away, and for weeks I couldn't settle for long enough to find the thread for this story again. Now, at long last, I'm back. Luckily I wrote down all the major points of this story well before I began writing it, and I find I'm still happy with where it's going. However, I'm still trying to convince my muse to cooperate, so don't expect great writing for the next few chapters. Besides, I'm still lacking a beta reader for this story... Anyway I've already decided I'll go back through the whole story once the fourth episode is done, and rewrite the worst segments, before going ahead with the next part of the plot.

I give my heartfelt thanks to the handful of readers who gave me feedback and prodded me ahead with this story: if it weren't for you, I don't know if I'd've managed to resume writing it. My mind wanders, and I've collected plots for at least a half-dozen completely new and exciting stories in these last weeks. But focusing enough to write something has been particularly hard.

Now, it's been a while, and you may either have forgotten what this is all about, or perhaps you've just stumbled upon this story. Therefore I believe it's time for a:

RECAP:

It wasn't long into the second year of the _Enterprise_ 's five-year mission under Captain Kirk, when the captain and his first officer met a mysterious individual on Galinedoria Beta IV. The local government had been ousted, and the plotters wanted to frame the _Enterprise_ crew with a crime to justify their backing off from joining the Federation. They captured the away team and were planning to set them up so their escape would end in a shoot-out, forcing the _Enterprise_ to come in closer to the surface and shoot at the prison facility in an attempt to rescue them. If that didn't work, they had a mercenary cloaked warship waiting to force the situation. However the away team met someone, calling himself just "Doctor", who helped them escape without serious injuries to either side, and also helped them unmask and defeat the mercenaries. Therefore a serious diplomatic incident was avoided, not to mention the thousands of Galinedorian civilian deaths the plotters intended to cause. But before they could thank him, or ask him any of the many questions they had in mind, such as who he was or what he had been doing there, or how he knew so much about the mercenaries involved, the Doctor knocked his guard out and slipped away.

The crew, and even the captain, didn't have time to wonder about the mysterious Doctor for long. There were too many mysteries and too many adventures in the _Enterprise_ 's continuing mission. However, the Vulcan first officer, Spock, found himself fascinated by the stranger, and tried his best to track him down. In spite of indifference or even annoyance on the part of the various Starfleet departments, he finally managed to find a clue to the Doctor's movements, through his apparent interest in some academic papers. He predicted that the Doctor should be about to visit an university colony in the same sector the _Enterprise_ happened to be patrolling, and Kirk agreed in diverting the _Enterprise_ there, hoping to catch the elusive "Doctor" and get some answers. In fact, they soon found out that the Doctor was expecting their arrival, having tried to attract their attention to himself before without success. He told them about an imminent attempt on the lives of an important academic and his research group, and asked for their help. While Spock went ahead to scout the mercenaries' safe house, the Doctor and McCoy talked, and the _Enterprise_ medical officer found out the other was in fact an alien. The Doctor tried to convince McCoy to trust him and keep his secret, when his attention was diverted by something.

* * *

Previously:

"What is it? Are you all right?"

"There's something wrong," the Doctor said, moving his head slowly from side to side, as if looking for something beyond the horizon.

* * *

McCoy was about to say something when, in a blur of motion, the Doctor threw himself over him and they fell to the ground together. Dazed, McCoy looked at the man now laying at his side, who was grimacing as if in pain. The Doctor had somehow managed to tip the table over as they fell, and they were laying next to the square granite tabletop, their chairs overturned around them. Before he could wonder what was happening, he heard a low whine, and a blast hit the table, throwing fragments in their direction. Someone was shooting at them. However the tabletop was thick and strong enough to stop and absorb most of the blast. They were safe for the moment, as long as they stayed behind its limited cover.

McCoy, keeping his head down, knelt at the Doctor's side and quickly began examining him for wounds. It didn't take long before he found a hole in the man's overcoat, where it was shot through. He pushed the coat aside, and he could see that the shot had hit his right side. The clothes were burnt, but thankfully the material hadn't melted, just charred. He began to gingerly remove the larger fragments so he could examine the wound. Though ugly, it wasn't as serious as it looked at first sight.

At that moment a strong hand grabbed his arm. "Doctor McCoy, what are you doing?" said his patient, while struggling to sit.

"Lie down, you are injured!" he ordered, but the man -alien, he reminded himself- was plainly intent on ignoring his orders. "At least keep your head down, we're being shot at!"

"Hush! They'll hear you."

"It's not as if they don't know we're here," he replied, but in a lower voice. "Calm down, don't try to move, you've been shot," he said, while picking his tricorder to assess the damage. The Doctor began shrugging out of the overcoat, and McCoy moved to stop him, "Hey, you're injured!"

"I know, but that's not important," the Doctor said, pushing his hands away and taking a long, silvery instrument from his pocket. He began buzzing it around, while asking, "We don't have time. Where's Captain Kirk?"

"Jim?" McCoy raised his head and turned, being careful to stay behind the cover. He could see some people running away from the shop. Then he saw the captain, trying to sneak around the tables on the other side of the food court, taking advantage of the distraction. He tried to peek over the table. He couldn't see the shooter, but there was a kiosk, with a couple of benches on the terrace, roughly in the center of the plaza, in the opposite direction to the coffee shop entrance. He guessed the kiosk's terrace would be the most likely place for a shooter to hide. Besides a number of low hedges and small trees, there weren't other hiding places in the plaza. The surrounding edifices were too far away. "I believe he's trying to approach the shooter, but he'll be seen! There's not enough cover..." He was trying to see more, but the Doctor pulled him down, just before another blast hit the table again.

"Be careful! And take your coat off!"

"No, I'm all right, it's you who have been shot."

"You don't understand. They must be using some sort of slow-charging, high-power blaster, which can pass undetected through most scanners. An assassin's weapon. This tabletop won't protect us for long."

At that moment they heard someone shouting from the other side, and they turned to look. A handful of local police officers were approaching, but at that moment a different whine was heard, followed by a brilliant flash. When it dissipated, McCoy saw that at least two of the officers were wounded and were being dragged back by their colleagues.

"Brave, but stupid. Most of the police here carry only short-ranged stun guns. They probably never faced a situation like this before."

"I must go help them," McCoy said, but the Doctor, with surprising strength, kept him down.

"No, hear me, Doctor McCoy. That was a wide-angle unfocused blast, they've probably only suffered superficial injuries. The shooter doesn't care about them. We are the real targets."

"What?" McCoy asked, confused.

"Think, Leonard," and the Doctor fixed him with his eyes. "The shooter was targeting you, but they know I was hit instead. This table won't stand many more shots. Give me your coat. I'll try to distract them, make them think I'm you trying to escape, so they'll focus on shooting me. That'll give Kirk a chance to approach them."

"You're wounded! I'll do it."

"If you try you'll be killed. I can use this," he showed his silver tool, "to detect when he's about to fire and duck in time."

"But-" tried McCoy. Then he flinched, as another powerful blast hit the table, sending dust and small fragments crumbling from their side.

"No buts, please trust me now, Doctor Leonard McCoy. I can save your captain but I must have your help."

Still hesitant, McCoy took his coat off and exchanged it with the Doctor's, who was now moving as if he hadn't even been injured. Gesturing for him to stay put, the Doctor glanced briefly over their cover and rushed towards a nearby table, jumping midway to roll over the ground and thus managing to avoid yet another blast, which flew over his body to blow up a planter. The _Enterprise_ 's doctor watched him, following his progress worriedly.

The Doctor was running towards yet another table, and this time the shot was delayed until he was behind cover and the blast hit the table instead. He was getting ready to move again when a yell was heard. Kirk had surprised the alien mercenary and was struggling with him on the kiosk's terrace. Both McCoy and the Doctor rushed towards them, the Doctor running up the kiosk's stairs before McCoy. When he reached the terrace, McCoy saw the Doctor crumpled to the ground, on the other side, still trying to point his strange tool towards the struggling pair. It seemed however that the Doctor's appearance had been enough to tip the balance, because the assassin was now barely holding himself up. Kirk finally managed to disarm his opponent, throwing the weapon over the edge and knocking him to the ground, apparently unconscious, while the captain wheezed, hands on his knees, standing next to him. Before McCoy could approach the pair, the Doctor jumped from the ground, grabbed Kirk and pushed him back, throwing him to the ground and falling over the captain. An instant later a sickening noise was heard, and McCoy watched horrified as the upper torso of the alien blew up, spreading gore around. If Kirk had still been standing near the mercenary, he would probably have been seriously injured. The Doctor had just saved him, again.

* * *

McCoy used the tricorder again. "Stop it, Bones! I've already said, I'm all right! It's just blood," his captain protested.

"Blood from your nose and this cut on your forehead, a cracked rib, and a collection of bruises. At least there's no concussion this time. It'd still be better if we went to the medical post."

"There's no time. Spock'll contact us soon, we have to go to meet him."

"These mercenaries can wait. You're injured."

"No, Bones, Doctor Smith is right. If we don't go as soon as possible, they'll make their move."

They both turned their heads to watch the strange man the captain had just mentioned. The whole area was swarming with the local police, but in their midst stood the Doctor talking to the police chief as if he was the one in charge. The police chief nodded respectfully and left, while the Doctor turned and waved to them, before walking toward another group of officers who were milling around the body. They'd switched back their coats and McCoy could see the patched hole in the Doctor's overcoat. The man moved as if he hadn't been injured, but having seen the wound, McCoy wondered how much pain he was hiding. He hadn't accepted the painkillers McCoy had offered him, and had refused to let himself be scanned with the tricorder. McCoy understood that the Doctor didn't want to leave evidence that he wasn't human, though he no longer had any doubts about that, especially after seeing traces of the Doctor's blood with its decidedly non-human orange tint. He had no idea to which species the man belonged, but for the moment he was content to trust him. After all, he had been true to his word, and had risked his life to save McCoy's and help the captain.

"What did he say, Bones? Is he really from Starfleet Intelligence as he just claimed to the police?" He was certainly acting as if he knew exactly what he was doing and had the authority to order the police around.

"I can't say, Jim, we didn't talk about it." McCoy wondered if it might be possible that Starfleet Intelligence had somehow recruited his help, though he hadn't mentioned them before. From what he knew, it was impossible to forge SI identities. It was certainly fortunate that the Doctor had one, because the local police clearly intended to detain them all until the Doctor presented it.

"What did you talk about, then? Did he tell you anything about himself?"

"A little, but I can't tell you about it."

"Why not?"

"He told me in confidence, he's now my patient."

Kirk turned, eyes wide in disbelief. "Tell me this, at least. Do you believe we can trust him?"

"Yes, Jim, I do," McCoy said, more firmly than he felt. "He's a good man, even if he's a bit strange."

"That's an understatement if I've ever heard one. Well, at least the mercenaries won't know their partner is dead, so they might wait for him." They had listened when the Doctor ordered the first officers to arrive on the scene to claim through the radio that there was at least one dead and many injured, but that the shooter had escaped and they had no idea what they looked like. He'd even ordered a token attempt to close the traffic to prevent an hypothetical escape. Later he'd explained that it was quite possible that the other mercenaries were listening on to the local police's frequencies, who weren't very well protected against eavesdroppers. That, and the Doctor's claim that he'd managed to jam and short-circuit the shooter's communicator made it likely the others would be alert but more curious than wary after they heard of the event.

A trio of grey cars, identical to the ones available to university staff, pulled in, and a man jumped out to talk to the Doctor, who turned and signaled to the _Enterprise_ officers. "That's our ride, Bones, let's go!"

But when they came closer the Doctor said, "Doctor McCoy, this is Officer Kenall, he'll take you to Nedentide Station to wait for us."

"No way in hell, I'm coming with you!"

"The shooter tried to kill you, Doctor McCoy. You're not a fighter, there's no reason to put your life at risk," the Doctor tried to argue.

"Are you sure, Bones? Doctor Smith is right, I don't want to see you injured," added Kirk.

McCoy shot an angry look at the captain, feeling betrayed. "I won't let you go on yourself. I'm a Starfleet officer, I can take care of myself. How many times have I faced danger by your side? You're insane if you think you're going without me! You too, Doctor Smith!"

Kirk shrugged and looked at Doctor Smith, who grinned. "All right, if you're that sure, let's go!"

They got on the first of the cars, and Kenall passed phasers to each of them. McCoy noticed that the Doctor was clearly unhappy with his phaser, which he pushed inside one of the ample pockets of his overcoat. Besides the driver and Kenall, there was another officer in their car, named Joan, and seven on each of the other cars, all with at least some weapons training. On the way to the residential dome where the mercenaries' house was situated, Doctor Smith explained his plan. The other cars would go ahead and park some distance away from the house, so the officers could get out of the cars and approach unobserved. Their job would be to surround the house and prevent any of the mercenaries escaping. Meanwhile, the first car would go as close as possible to the house while still out of sight, and they'd wait with the car until they could talk to Spock and decide how best to break into the house. It'd be the job of the three _Enterprise_ officers, plus Doctor Smith and Officers Joan and Kenall, the best trained officers of the local police, to catch the mercenaries, alive, if possible.

* * *

A/N: There should be three more chapters to this episode, and I'll try to finish it before the end of January. This chapter has been revised, especially the second part.


	18. Investigation: Planning

**Episode II: Investigation**

 **Chapter 7 - Planning**

Summary: Too few people to go against dangerous enemies

* * *

A/N: I'm surprised and honored to see so many of you following and favoriting this story. As a thank you, here's a belated gift for all my readers, the last chapter of the year! It was unbelievably difficult to write. I found that I'm not that good in writing action scenes, and it's even worse with the difficulty I'm having to keep the focus in order to finish writing anything. Anyway this chapter has grown too large so I've decided to break it in two, so the action ifself will happen in the next chapter, that should follow as soon as possible. Note that I've edited the last section of the previous chapter to make it clear that McCoy is convinced that the Doctor is really not human, though he hadn't used the tricorder on him.

* * *

Kirk closed his communicator. Smith had asked for a team from the _Enterprise_ to help search for any explosive devices the assassins might have already planted around the research compound, and Kirk had agreed with him that it was a wise move. He'd put Scotty in charge of assembling and equipping the team, but they'd have to come down on another shuttle, since the use of transporters was still out of the question. For the moment, it was just the three of them, plus Smith and the local police. He glanced at McCoy. Bones was watching Smith, who was now using his tool to do something with the phaser he'd received from Officer Kenall. Kirk breathed, trying to ignore the noise from the small silvery wand tool. He missed Spock's reassuring, logical presence.

They were driving down the tunnels, on their way to the residential compound. The car couldn't use the walkway near the cafe, and anyway its exit, close to their targets' house, could be easily monitored by the assassins. Therefore they'd chosen a longer, circuitous route, which would let them approach from the other side of the residential dome. Doctor Smith's plan, however incomplete, was sound, and the best they could think of with the limited information they already had. The captain was forced to admit that the man seemed to know what he's doing. He certainly transpired confidence, reassuring the nervous police officers who'd never faced this kind of situation before, and even-handedly discussing the options with Kirk. The captain however felt rather at odds, not knowing which of the three personas he'd already met, if any, was the real face of Doctor John Smith. The wounded, worried traveler, the effusive and mysterious man they met at Residence Nedentide or, now, the professional, self-assured intelligence agent who'd taken charge of the police team.

It was clear that Doctor Smith had worked with the military before, He knew how to command attention and make others follow his orders. But Kirk guessed he wasn't military himself. He seemed less than comfortable with all the formality. Sometimes Kirk could also catch a haunted look in his eyes, despite the grin plastered on his face. Then he looked old and weary, and in pain. Not nearly as much pain as he'd looked on the _Enterprise_ , when they were orbiting Galinedoria, but he was clearly injured, though he knew how to hide it. If it wasn't for Spock's telling of how he'd masked it before, Kirk might've missed the signs again. McCoy had caught it too, and he'd offered something that Smith had finally, reluctantly, accepted, but afterwards he'd clearly felt, and moved, better.

He recalled when Smith'd appeared on the kiosk's roof, in the middle of his struggle with the assassin. He'd underestimated the mercenary, who'd looked shorter and thinner than himself, and he'd been surprised by his strength and agility. He was having a hard time holding his own before Smith jumped the assassin, trying to grab his arm, and getting an elbow on his stomach for his trouble. The man'd collapsed on a pile, out of the fight, but the distraction had been enough to let Kirk recover his balance and land a series of punches on the alien before he could recover. Just as he thought the fight was over, Smith'd dragged him away, but before he could protest, the mercenary blew up before his eyes. Doctor Smith claimed that he'd used his "screwdriver" tool to partially disable the alien bomb, though the alien had finally managed to get it to explode. He'd earlier also saved Doctor McCoy's life. Kirk mused he was in the strange man's debt, yet again.

Officer Kenall sneezed, and McCoy immediately turned his attention to him, using his tricorder to scan the police officer. "Sorry," Kenall said, "it's this new flu. Half the officers have already caught it, it's why we're short-handed today."

"That's not good," interrupted McCoy, "you should be home, resting."

"It's just a flu," Kenall protested, "and these are my men! Most other leaders are already down, I can't leave them. Besides, I'm feeling fine. I wasn't sneezing before."

"That's because the infection has just caught you. You'll feel the other symptoms soon," added McCoy.

"But that'll leave me enough time to help you."

"No, I'm sorry," Smith put in. "We'll need stealth. We couldn't have you sneezing on us when we're trying to sneak into that house. But you can stay in the car and help coordinate with the other units."

Kenall grumbled but settled down, while McCoy fussed over him. "At least you can take Joan and Rich, they'll be able to help you."

Kirk wasn't sure about that. Rich, the driver, seemed much too young to be involved in a shootout, and Joan, though seemingly more experienced, was clearly startled with the responsibility. They might be more of a hindrance than help in the kind of situation they were about to face. He was about to dismiss their help when Doctor Smith spoke.

"Don't worry, Officer Kenall, Joan and Rich will be of great help." He fixed his eyes on Kirk, while continuing over the clear objection stamped in the captain's face, "I'm sure they'll be more than capable of doing their part to stop these criminals." Kirk could notice Rich straightening up in the driver's seat, and Joan's eyes shining with pride. The way Smith said that had clearly inspired their self-confidence. Kirk hoped that they weren't about to sacrifice their lives. But yes, Smith was right, they'd need help to storm that house. Besides, as inexperienced as Rich, and Joan, seemed, the officers in the other two units, just now forming up a wide circle around the mercenaries' house, weren't any better. The better trained of them all, at least of those who weren't on medical leave, seemed to be Kenall himself.

McCoy straightened up, and moved closer to the captain, in the cramped space within the car. "Jim, that's the Galinedorian flu," he spoke softly, so that Kenall and Joan, who were discussing something, wouldn't hear him. Smith somehow heard them, however, and raised his head, interested.

"But New Sapienza is on the other side of Federation space from Galinedoria, Bones!"

"Yes, this flu seem to be particularly contagious, even if it doesn't seem dangerous."

"I thought the transporters were designed to filter out harmful microbes and help prevent the spread of diseases," said the captain.

"That only works if everyone is using the transporters, but many don't like using them, or, as in here, they have to use shuttles for transportation."

"Galinedorian flu?" Smith asked.

"Yes, that's what I'm calling it. Almost half of the _Enterprise_ 's crew caught it just after that incident in Galinedoria, when we met you."

"And now it's here," Smith replied, also keeping his voice soft. "Interesting. I did notice that a number of students began to fall ill, recently. Nothing serious, but some classes were suspended when the teachers also caught it."

"Mia..."

"Who, Jim?"

"The daughter of an old friend. I met her and her brother in the transport to Residence Nedentide. They'd just arrived on the Asimov. She was recovering from the flu."

"Starliner transportation can be one of the primary vectors for the spreading of diseases. Shouldn't the ship have been quarantined, to stop the spread of the flu?" asked Smith.

"Ah, but Starfleet Medical has too much on their mind, with too many rare but dangerous diseases to worry about," McCoy complained. "I've sent my report but no one seemed concerned. 'It's just another flu', they said. They even dragged their feet before sending the transporter filter update patch for the Galinedorian flu virus. And it wasn't even flagged as a priority patch. No wonder the flu has already arrived here."

"That means no one was concerned enough to quarantine a ship just for the flu," explained Kirk. "Even more so if as you've said it was already here even before the Asimov arrived."

"Doctor McCoy, can I see your data on this flu?" Smith asked.

"Are you also qualified as a medical doctor," Kirk asked, "besides being an intelligence officer and an astrophysics researcher?"

"I have a wide range of interests," replied Smith, as he fiddled with McCoy's tricorder and his own silvery tool.

They finally arrived at the corner where Spock was waiting for them. Two other police cars had already arrived, one with additional weapons and protective equipment for their assault, and the other containing a mobile command post. The other cars, with the officers that were to help them, were scheduled to arrive at different points, nearer the positions the officers would have to take to surround the house in order to prevent an eventual escape attempt, while also avoiding attracting too much attention. An older sergeant was manning the command post, and Kenall walked there, dragging Smith with him, to discuss the situation. Kirk took advantage of the opportunity and pulled Spock aside.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, Captain. The house-"

"Later, Spock. First I need you to check something for me. Smith now claims to be from Starfleet Intelligence."

"Yes, you mentioned that, when you called earlier about the sniper attack."

"I'm not convinced he's telling the whole truth. There's something odd about him."

"There are many things that are strange about Doctor Smith. You must be more specific."

"I don't think he belongs to SI. I need you to check his identity."

"Did he show you an ID card?"

"Yes, and I read it using McCoy's tricorder, and it seemed to check out."

"Then it is valid. It cannot be forged."

"Do you mean it's too hard to forge one?

"No, I mean it's physically impossible to forge one. You would need access to a parallel universe to be able to generate an identity card that wasn't issued by Starfleet Intelligence but which would pass the tricorder validation program."

"Oh. Anyway I still need you to verify his identity. I've never seen a code like the one in his card. It's possible he's not an agent but a mere consultant, and he's not really authorized to take over the operation as he's done."

"The ID card should contain enough information to ascertain his authorization level, and even the missions he's assigned to."

"But I don't know how to retrieve the additional information. You've worked with SI before, so I'm assuming you know how to do it."

"Yes, I do. And my tricorder is equipped to decrypt the additional information. I'll see what I can find, Captain."

"Thanks, Spock! Now let's join the others before we're missed."

Kirk watched as Spock asked to see Doctor Smith credentials. Smith passed him the small beige card with a raised eyebrow towards Kirk. Spock checked it with his tricorder, raised an eyebrow of his own, and checked it again.

"Is that all right, Mr. Spock?" Smith asked. "Do you need something else?"

"I'm intrigued. All your credentials are encrypted, beyond your name and authorization code. Normally it's only the mission data that's encrypted. And I've never seen an authorization code like yours before. Code 9-Epsilon-Gamma. Even the format does not match the usual Starfleet codes."

"That's because you've never seen someone like me before. It's a special code. I trust you're satisfied that I'm authorized to request the full cooperation of both Starfleet officers and planetary authorities?"

"That's what the tricorder says. But, I wonder, if you had it, why haven't you shown it before?"

Doctor Smith sighed. "That's because I prefer to do things quietly, without pulling rank, or attracting that much attention. It's really a last resort. But time is running out, and we need to get to those mercenaries before they suspect their plot has been uncovered. There isn't time to argue whose authority should take precedence."

"I understand, Doctor," Spock said.

"Besides, if you're curious, there's a decryption key you can use to read at least part of my credentials."

"Where is it?"

"See these encoded lines below?" Smith pressed a button in Spock's tricorder and pointed to something in its display. "These are simple one-time puzzles that can easily be solved, but only by the person they're addressed to. Once broken, they reveal a decryption key. I believe that, as a Vulcan science officer, there's at least one you should be able to solve. You now have a copy of the credentials data, and you can try to satisfy your curiosity later. Now let's go back, shall we? The other teams should already be in position and we have yet to discuss some details."

Spock returned the identity card and followed Doctor Smith to the command car, with Kirk following after them. Officer Kenall introduced them to Sergeant Davison, and they proceeded to discuss Spock's observations of the mercenaries' house. Kirk noticed that his first officer was stiffly formal during the subsequent discussions, and wondered what was about that puzzle that had so disturbed his Vulcan friend. He'd have to ask him later.

Their plan was simple. They were terribly short of personnel, and their only chance lay in surprising the mercenaries before they could set the explosives to detonate. Not only those in the research compound that was their target, but also the ones Doctor Smith was certain they had ready to cover their tracks in the house itself. Remembering the sniper who blew himself up on the kiosk's roof, Kirk could only agree with Smith's assessment. Spock had noticed a fellow Vulcan was the next door neighbor to the mercenaries, and with his help he'd managed to get close enough to the house's walls to scan it, determining that most of the mercenaries' equipment should be on the upper floor of the house.

They studied the floor plans, and decided to use the Vulcan neighbor's house as assembly point. Spock and the Doctor would simulate they were visitors, while Kirk, McCoy and Officers Joan and Rich would dress up as maintenance personnel and approach from the service way behind the houses. They should be out of sight from the mercenaries' house until they could meet in the rear courtyard. Officer Kenall had managed to convince Doctor Smith to take Sergeant Davison with them in his place, so there'd be seven members in the assault team. Kenall would coordinate the approach of the two other units, once they've entered the house, so they'd have some backup if things didn't go well. Two snipers would try to access the roof of other houses, but with the upper floor windows covered by thick blinds, they wouldn't be of much help for the assault itself. The Doctor hoped they'd be able to capture at least one mercenary alive, so that Starfleet would have a prisoner to interrogate.

Kirk, Spock and McCoy armed themselves with phasers and smoke grenades, as did Sergeant Davison and Officers Joan and Rich. Doctor Smith, however, dug into the police equipment and finally got himself a larger communicator module he immediately began to fiddle with, as well as a couple of other things Kirk couldn't identify at a glance. Doctor Smith and Spock went first, with Davison, while the others waited with Kenall for their go ahead.

* * *

A/N: Next chapter should follow shortly. This chapter hasn't been revised by anyone besides myself, so I apologize for all the mistakes and grammar.


	19. Chapter 19 - AN: No I'm not giving up!

Hi, this is just a short note to tell you that no, I haven't given up on this story. Thank you so much, Guest, for your review. For a while I was somewhat disappointed with the lack of feedback: reviews do help a lot in the writing process, even more so when I'm stuck. But the current problem is that I've noticed that I haven't given up enough reasons to show why Spock was so interested in the Doctor, and why he's now suddenly suspicious. That's a point that came up in the last chapter and continues in the next, so I haven't managed to get the chapter written to my satisfaction yet. I believe I'll have to go back and rewrite a few scenes from the first episode in order to show not tell. But I'd rather finish the current episode before trying any corrections. The next episode is half-written already, so if I could just move on...

It didn't help that this year I had much less free time and some health problems in the family, so my mind, as a rule, wasn't in the writing. But I have until tomorrow to try and finish this next chapter in order to avoid going beyond a year between updates :) Thanks again!


End file.
